Life, Love, Meaning, Over?
by AdriannaAJ
Summary: [Bella/Rosalie] Edward left Bella broken and alone in the woods but someone has come back to help her. Now Bella discovers that Edward may not have been her true mate, but another Cullen might be.
1. Chapter 1

Bella POV

His departure hit me like a truck going head first into a brick wall. I was numb, nothing made sense. He couldn't leave me. He promised never to leave me. That's wasn't right though, he never promised me he would stay forever. I tried to make him promise but he said only as long as it was good for me. I needed him and he left me all alone. What was I supposed to do without him?

I collapsed under the weight of my pain and despair. The emotional pain was so strong I couldn't think anymore. I didn't notice the pain when my knees hit the forest floor. I didn't notice my pants were now wet.

"Bella," a voice called to me. I barely registered my name. The voice was familiar but I couldn't place it. It wasn't _his_ voice so it didn't matter. "Oh Bella," the voice said.

I was pulled off the ground and into this unknown person's arms. The body was cold but I couldn't look up to see their face. I didn't have the will to do it. They would leave too so I didn't want to know.

"You're home now," the voice said. I didn't move when I was set down on my bed. "I have to go now, your dad is almost home, but I will be back for you. I promise."

I felt cold, hard lips on my forehead but when I looked up they were gone.

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

Sweat poured down my body and my heart was pounding in my chest. I couldn't breathe. No matter how much air was in my lungs or how hard I tried. I couldn't breathe and it hurt. There was a hole in my chest that destroyed everything. _He _destroyed everything. I was a shell of the person I was, a zombie.

Charlie tried to get me to go to Florida but I refused. _He_ couldn't go there so I wouldn't either. It had been two months since he left and I was still trying to convince myself he would come back for me. He had to come back for me. I wondered if he felt half of what I was feeling right now.

I got out of the comfort and safety of my bed and went to my dresser to look for clothes for school. A folded up note on my dresser caught my eye and I pulled my hands out of the drawers. The note read _Bella_ on the outside in violet ink.

I unfolded the note wondering who would want to talk to me. I avoided people like the plague. More than that I wondered how someone had gotten into my room.

_Bella_, it read.

_I'm sorry it took so long to keep my promise. I tried to come back but they wouldn't let me. I was able to sneak away, now that he left. _

_I've checked around and you're not doing well Bella. I would like to help, if you would let me. It's your choice, I would never force you to do anything. _

_I will be at Kokopelli in Port Angeles at 7pm tonight. If you don't show then I know there is no chance you will ever forgive me._

_Until then, I am forever yours._

There was no signature.

I reread the note wondering if they meant to quote Journey at me. I loved Journey and it was almost as if whoever wrote the note knew that. I set the paper down next to a rose and tried to figure out who it was and more importantly if I was going to go.

Charlie would be thrilled if I did go but what if it was a trick? If it was a trick did I really care? I already lost my soul mate, death wouldn't mean much. _They _would probably be happy I was dead, and then they wouldn't have to worry about me exposing their secret.

I decided to go but I wanted to know who I was meeting. It wasn't _him_ that much was certain. My mind flashed to the coven leader. It had to be him. He would be the most concerned about my wellbeing. He would feel the most guilty about leaving, if any of them felt guilty.

Something about the note bothered me. "If you don't show then I know there is no chance you will ever forgive me?" I could only think of one person that would want forgiveness, though there is nothing to forgive.

Jasper. It was him. He wanted me to forgive him. But why would he want to help me? Unless he felt guilty and wanted to do some sort of a trade. My forgiveness for his help. Would he leave after I was better?

School went by as it usually did, quick and boring. My grades were perfect because I didn't do anything besides homework and study.

I went to work and did what I had to do, ignoring Mike and his feeble attempts to talk to me. I was pleased he stopped trying to get me to go out with him.

Charlie wasn't home when I pulled into the driveway so I went to my room to do homework while I waited. For the first time in two months I was having trouble focusing on my work, I was just too distracted. Meeting Jasper tonight took over my thoughts, even though it hurt to think about it. I wondered where Alice was and if she would join us.

Alice. I missed her. She was my best friend and now she is gone too. I thought she would have tried to stay but I guess not. Maybe she didn't care. If only I was more excited about being Bella Barbie then maybe she would have stayed.

I was cooking dinner when Charlie came home at five. "Hi dad," I greeted when he walked into the kitchen.

"Evening Bella," he said. He took off his jacket, badge and gun and left the room. As he left I saw him removing the bullets. He had been doing that ever since they left. I don't know why, I wasn't going to shoot myself. It was very messy for one and I would never do that to Charlie or Renee. And I promised _him _I wouldn't do anything reckless or stupid.

He came back, dressed in regular clothes, when I finished cooking. It was now or never if I wanted to go out.

"Dad," I said setting his food on the table. "Can I go to Port Angeles? I've been wanting to get out of the house, maybe go to the bookstore."

He took a few bites before speaking, probably weighing the options. Trying to figure out if letting me go would be worth the possibility of me feeling better. "Are you going with anyone?"

I shook my head. "Not out too late Bella," he said. He was trying to be stern but I could hear the happiness in his voice. I was doing something and that is all he cared about.

I changed my clothes while Charlie ate. I wanted to look nice for Jasper. I wanted to prove to him I was ok. I said goodbye to Charlie after I finished, promising to be home at a reasonable hour.

The trip to Port Angeles was slow but it was no surprise considering my truck doesn't go over 50mph. I still loved my truck but part of me wanted to get rid of it because it was a reminder of what I lost. When I pulled into the parking lot with five minutes to spare, I didn't see any expensive cars when I looked around. Then again I had no idea what kind of car Jasper drove.

I took a deep breath before climbing out of my truck. I slammed the door shut and walked into the restaurant.

"Name," the host said when I walked inside. He sounded bored and never looked up from his magazine.

"Bella Swan," I said. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone here." I didn't give Jasper's name in case Jasper didn't want anyone to know he was here.

He looked up and stuffed his magazine into a cubby. "Of course ma'am," he said. He called me ma'am, what on Earth made him call me that. Did Jasper scare him into being polite?

I wonder what Jasper said to him. As soon as I said my name his personality did a 180. "She is waiting for you," he said getting up to escort me.

Did he just say she? If it's not Jasper then who is it? It only took a minute for me to find out. "Hello Bella," a soft musical voice said. I recognized the voice although I haven't heard it much over the nine months I've known her and anytime she spoke it was harsh and mean. Now it was nice, calm, gentle and pleading, like she didn't want me to walk away.

I looked up into the golden eyes I never expected to see again. "Rosalie," I said in shock.


	2. Chapter 2

Bella POV

Rosalie was smiling the moment she saw me walking towards her but one look at the surprise on my face and her smiled turned into a frown. "You didn't know it would be me," she muttered looking down.

I sat down without turning away from the blonde vampire. By the time I was sitting I had hit the table several times. I was so surprised yet so happy to see her I was afraid if I looked away she would be gone. It wasn't necessarily her I was happy to see, I would be happy to see any of the Cullen's or any vampire, I was just happy they existed. He promised it would be like he never existed but looking at Rosalie was prove enough that he did exist. Proof he couldn't keep his promise. And if he didn't keep his promise why should I keep mine? First step was to talk to Rosalie then I can plan.

"What can I get you ladies to drink?" the waitress asked. We both ordered cokes though Rosalie would never drink hers.

"This is more complicated than I thought," Rosalie said when the waitress left. She wasn't looking at me. "How did you not know it was me? I gave you clues."

I racked my brain trying to figure out what clues she gave me. She finally looked at me. "I left the rose and used the violet ink," she explained. The rose made sense now but the violet ink did not.

"How was the ink a clue?" I asked.

"Ed…" I flinched and Rosalie stopped saying his name. "He never told you about my past?" I shook my head. "Makes sense, well my eyes were violet when I was human."

"How do you know I love Journey?" I questioned. Even he didn't know that.

"I overheard you talking to Emmett and you mentioned it," she replied. It took me a minute but I also remembered that conversation. Emmett and I were talking about our favorite things. It was similar to the conversation I had in the Volvo but with Emmett isn't was a lot more relaxed.

The waitress returned with our drinks and asked us if we wanted any appetizers. I looked at Rosalie and she shrugged as if to say it was up to me. I picked out a sampler figuring I would have more time to talk to Rosalie the longer I took here. "Why did you come?"

Rosalie looked away and I took that as a sign she wasn't going to answer so I tried a different question. "Where is Emmett?" I wasn't aware they could go more than a few hours without each other but here she was and my favorite brother was nowhere in sight.

Still she didn't answer. "Was it you?" I tried. "That person that took me home after… was it you?"

"It was," Rosalie said finally answering a question. "You were so out of it. I'm not surprised you didn't realize it was me. Who did you think was going to be here? You were surprised it was me but you still came."

"I thought it was Jasper," I said blushing. It seemed crazy now thinking Jasper would show up here just to see me. I'm sure he had more important things to do then come see the human that ruined his control.

"Why would you think Jasper was coming?" Rosalie asked confused.

"In your note you mentioned forgiving you. I thought Jasper wanted forgiveness for what happened at my birthday party," I said.

For some unknown reason Rosalie winced at the mention of my birthday party. I don't understand why, I remember her face after I was thrown into the table and she looked smug, almost happy. Now she was upset about it? Was it possible vampires could be bipolar? "He does want forgiveness," Rosalie said. "And eventually he will come back asking for it. If he finds out what our leaving has done to you he will hate himself more than he already does. He wanted to stay and so did Alice and Emmett. The rest of us didn't." There was something about the way she said the rest of us that made me wonder.

I frowned. I didn't want Jasper to blame himself. It was my fault I got that blasted paper cut. "Do you still talk to him?" She nodded. "Can you tell him I never blamed him for anything?"

"Sure Bella," she said giving me a soft smile.

The waitress returned with my sampler. As soon as she sat the platter in front of me I started stuffing my face, ignoring the burn from the hot food. "When was the last time you ate?" Rosalie said staring at me. Thankfully she didn't look disgusted. I shrugged sheepishly. I couldn't remember. Rosalie sighed but didn't say anything.

"How is school?" she asked. I swallowed my food with some difficulty and took a gulp of my soda.

"It's ok," I answered. "I have straight A's."

"Really? I thought you struggled in math," Rosalie commented. How had she known that?

I stared at her with my mouth open, good thing there wasn't any food in my mouth at that moment. "I did," I admitted. "But after you guys left all I did was study and do homework." After the zombie period, I added silently.

I took a bite out of my mozzarella stick and looked up. Rosalie's expression was almost unreadable but I could detect a sense of longing, sadness and anger. "He shouldn't have left you," she said softly. "I was always jealous of you. You had everything and were willing to throw it away for an immature little boy but seeing you now… I almost wish he stayed so you would still be happy."

"I'm happy now," I said but even a stranger would know I was lying.

"You're not," she said calling me out on my lie. "I can see it in your eyes. You're miserable."

"I'm doing the best I can," I snapped pushing my plate away. Suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore. I didn't need a vampire who hated me to rub it in that I'm not happy.

To my surprise she reached over the table and took my hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Rosalie said. "That's why I came back. You asked earlier so now you have my answer. I want to help you."

"Why do you care?" I asked softly. If she wasn't a vampire she wouldn't have heard me.

"I can't tell you that," she said. She sounded like she regretted that. How strange. "You will know eventually but I want you to get better first. Are you done?"

"Yeah," I answered and she waved over the waitress. Rosalie paid the bill, which was ridiculous since she didn't eat anything and we left the restaurant.

"Are you in a hurry to get home?" she asked me.

"Um not really," I said trying to remember if I had a curfew. I came to the conclusion I didn't since I never went anywhere.

"Would you like to walk around?" Rosalie asked me. "Port Angeles is beautiful at night." I shivered at the thought. Last time I was in Port Angeles it hadn't gone well and it would have been worse if not for him. Rosalie mistook my shiver for being cold and took off her jacket and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I said slipping it on. I agreed to walk around with her. To the casual observer our walking around would be considered a lot more intimate than it really was. I wonder if Rosalie knew that. I figured she hadn't, otherwise she wouldn't have asked me to walk around.

"I always loved the ocean," she said softly as we stood on a pier.

"Did you see it a lot, when you were human?" I asked. I realized I knew nothing about Rosalie when she was human, other than the fact her eyes were violet.

"Occasionally," she answered. I was surprised she willingly told me something about her. "My best friend when I was human would take me there. We would go with her little boy. After I was changed I couldn't really go to the beach except at night."

"I never saw the beach up close until I moved to Forks," I admitted.

"Do you like it?" she asked eagerly. There was a sense of excitement that I've never seen Rosalie show. It was strange yet nice.

"I do," I said. "It's peaceful. I wish I had known that when you guys left." I wasn't sure if it was the beach or if it was Rosalie but if I had known how peaceful it was I would have spent all my time in La Push.

"I agree. I always felt most calm, most at peace when I was at the beach," Rosalie said.

"Why did you leave me?" I asked softly. I couldn't hide the pain in my voice. "Not you specifically," I added when she didn't say anything. "But Alice, Carlisle, Esme, even Emmett, why did they have to leave me? Did they know what it would do to me?"

"He made everyone leave. We had no choice but if I had known what it would do to you I wouldn't have left. I know you are under the impression I hate you but I don't. I can't explain everything yet but eventually you will know and understand. As for Emmett and Alice and Jasper as well they will be back as soon as they finish some things and I give the ok," Rosalie explained. "Carlisle and Esme did what they thought was best. Honestly I don't think they realize they put Edward's needs and wants over everyone else's." The sound of hit name hit me strong and I collapsed on the ground. My chest hurt much like it did when he left.

"Bella, I'm sorry," Rosalie said catching me before I hit the ground. "Come on I'll drive you home."

She took my keys out of my purse and walked me to my drive. She was supporting most of my weight though no one noticed it. She helped me into the passenger seat and walked quickly to the driver's side. "It's ok Rosalie," I mumbled after she started the car.

"What happened to the radio we bought you?" she asked looking at the hole in my dashboard.

"I took it out," I muttered. If I had looked at her I would have seen the pain her face. She didn't comment on it which was strange. Emmett would have pouted and Jasper would have been sad but he would have stayed silent. The Rosalie I used to know would have made some comment about how rude it was to destroy a birthday present.

"What are your plans for tomorrow?" she asked.

I started to shrug before I remembered I did have plans. "I'm going with Charlie to dinner at Jacob's house."

"In La Push?" she asked. She didn't sound happy.

"Yes," I replied. She started growling. "Is there something wrong with that?

I glanced at her face and saw she was conflicted though I had no idea why. "No, you should go see your friend. It might help. If you ever want me to stay with you at night open your window and I will come in," she said. It was the complete opposite of him. He would come whether I wanted him to or not but to be fair I always wanted him there.

"Ok," I said thinking I would keep it closed and locked. It would be easy to kill me in my sleep. I still wasn't sure if she truly cared or was faking it.

She didn't sound convinced. "I will check on you a few times in the night but I won't come into your house without permission unless something is wrong."

The trip home took longer than it should have for a vampire, one of the perks of my truck. "You need a new car," Rosalie commented and I glared at her before cringing and the similarity to my birthday.

Rosalie offered to carry me to my room but I declined. Charlie was already asleep but I still didn't trust the blonde vampire. She shut the door and handed me my keys back. "Goodnight Bella," Rosalie called. I turned around but she was gone.

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><p>Do you want Rosalie's POV next or Bella's?<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

This chapter has some bad language cause lets face it, it's Rosalie.

Also a lot of peope seemed interested in her POV so I will be alternating between the two. Next will be Bella.

This is mostly a repeat of what happened in the last two chapters but I didn't repeat the entire conversation they had.

Thanks for the reviews and alerts!

* * *

><p>Rosalie POV<p>

"I have to go back," I told Emmett. We were taking the time to hunt before our family meeting.

"I know you do," Emmett said. That's what I loved about him. He never tried to stop me from doing something but he would give me reason why he thought it was a bad idea. Most of the time it was a good idea, it stopped me from killing Edward a bunch of times. "But you need to wait at least until Edward is gone." I growled at the mention of my idiot brother.

"Rose, I know you hate him but is it necessary to growl every time he is mentioned?" Emmett asked. I laughed at that, Emmett hated him almost as much I do. He hated that Edward made him leave his baby sister.

"Hate is too kind of a word," I said throwing the dead animal. "But to answer your question, yes I do. You didn't see her when Edward left. It was like she died. I promised I would go back for her Emmett and that was two months ago." I instantly regretted mentioning how Bella was when Edward left. Emmett eye's darkened and he was growling.

"Wait for Dickward to leave then go back," Emmett said. I laughed at the nickname.

"Thanks for everything Em," I said hugging my ex-husband.

"Anytime Rose and don't feel guilty. Alice had a vision of my mate and she is smoking hot." I growled, not at the thought of Emmett having a mate, he deserved some happiness after all this time, but at the thought of someone being hotter than me. Emmett chuckled before continuing, "Alice said it won't happen for another ten years or so but what's ten years for a vampire?"

"Let's head back," I suggested. My hope was the sooner we got back to the house the sooner Edward would leave.

Sure enough when we got to the house Esme was begging Edward not to leave. "Edward, please don't go," Esme begged. I rolled my eyes. He was going to go and act the victim in this. He didn't give a damn about Bella. All he cared about was himself. I sighed thinking about Bella.

He turned and glared at me and I smiled pleasantly much to Emmett's amusement. "Stay away from my Bella," Edward growled. Edward knew the truth. That's why he made everyone leave her in the first place. Alice saw it, Bella and I would be together sooner or later. Personally I preferred sooner. I growled at him. He had no right to call her his Bella. She was _mine_.

"Rosalie," Carlisle said. Of course he would defend the golden boy. "Bella won't tell anyone about us. There is no need to go back and kill her."

I snarled at him. How dare he suggest I want to kill her? She is my mate. I would never hurt her in any way, unlike Edward. Edward winced. If only the family knew the truth. Emmett held me back to keep me from attacking Carlisle.

While I fought against Emmett Edward grabbed his bags and left. If he wasn't such a wimp I would have thought he was going back to Bella. Carlisle had to go the hospital and Esme left to hunt. Emmett waited until they were gone before he released me. "He's gone," I said. "Now I am going back to her."

Emmett smiled. "Good, she is going to need you. Do you have a plan?"

"I do," I answered. "I will leave her a note with a place to meet me and I will give her clues as to who I am. It will be her choice on whether or not she comes."

"Why give her clues?" Emmett asked. "Why not say it is you?"

"Two reasons," I replied. "It would be easier that way but I don't want her father to know it's me, I doubt he is thrilled with our family thanks to Edward and I don't want him to forbid Bella from seeing me." Emmett grimaced at the thought and I didn't blame him. With my emotions the way they are if Charlie tried to keep me away from Bella I might lash out at him. "Also she is friends with Jacob Black, Ephraim's great grandson. I wouldn't put it past the dog to hide the letter if he saw it was from one of us."

"Alright, that makes sense," Emmett said. "Call me as soon as I can come visit her."

I went to Esme's garden and looked at the different roses she had. I couldn't figure out which one to take so I picked a simple red one. Bella would appreciate the simplicity of the rose. The rose itself represented my name but the color symbolized my love for her. I didn't expect her to understand the color's meaning, in fact I hoped she didn't, but she was smart and would probably guess it. I couldn't resist showing her I loved her.

When I got to Forks it was nighttime. I ran because it would be quicker than driving, didn't have to worry about cops, signals or stop signs. I felt guilty for climbing into her window without permission, Edward did it all the time and I found it creepy and disgusting even before I learned Bella was my mate. I promised myself I would never do that but I need to get the note to her. The only thing that made me feel less guilty was the fact I wasn't staying long. I dropped the note and flower on her dresser and walked to her bedside. Bella was tossing and turning in her bed and I wanted nothing more than to hold her and calm her down. Instead I kissed her forehead and Bella stopped moving and sighed. I smiled and jumped out of her window.

The next day I watched her from the woods. She was at school and it was sunny out so I couldn't get close but I still heard people talking about her. "They should lock her up," Lauren Mallory said. I growled at her.

"She isn't crazy," Angela said, defending her friend. I was going to have to take her shopping sometime as a thank you.

"Jessica didn't react that way when Mike dumped her," Lauren said. "I always knew something was wrong with Bella. Now I know I'm right."

I snarled at her. There is nothing wrong with my Bella. Then I groaned. I was already calling her my Bella. I had to stop that before I accidently let the truth slip out. I refused to tell Bella the truth until she was healed and over Edward though I wasn't against starting a relationship with her beforehand. I left Bella to go hunt and shop before we met for dinner. I had to look my best even if it wasn't hard to do.

I spent more than three hours shopping and during that time at least a dozen guys and a few girls had hit on me. It took all my control not to hit them or growl at them. I was now standing outside the restaurant. I checked my phone; she had ten minutes before it was seven. I would stay until 7:30pm. If she didn't show up by then… well… I didn't want to think about that.

"Hello, how can I help you?" I cringed internally, boys these days were disgusting. Come to think about it they weren't much better in the 1920s either. This wasn't the first time I cursed my beauty. I was sick of men staring at me like I'm a piece of ass.

"Hi," I said forcing a smile. "I'm meeting a friend for dinner, she should be here soon. Her name is Bella Swan."

"Would you like a table now?" he asked smiling still. Gross.

"Please, oh and when she shows up can you not hit on her? And I expect you to be perfectly polite to her," I said slipping a hundred dollar bill into his hand.

"Of course Ms…"

"Hale," I said. "But don't mention my name to anyone."

To say I was surprised Bella showed up would be an understatement. Jasper always said she never hated me like I pretended to hate her. She actually looked up to me somewhat but the surprise on her face was enough to confuse me.

She had no idea I was going to be here. My dead heart ached. I wanted her to be here because she wanted to see me, not because she didn't know who would show up, or because she expected Edward to show up. I started mumbling to myself, she heard some of it but it was mostly too quiet for human ears.

I started to say Edward's name and she flinched as if I hurt her. Fuck my existence. My mate is still completely in love with my brother. How the fuck am I supposed to win her over now?

I had to resist the urge to growl when I learned Edward told her nothing about me. I shouldn't be surprised. In a way I was sort of a taboo subject. Edward was always afraid Bella would leave the truth and leave him for me.

"How did you know I love Journey?" Bella asked. Oh shit. Quick think of a good excuse. I remember Emmett mentioning he had a conversation with her about Journey. He said she loved them. That's good; there was no need to tell her I learned everything about her. Not from spying or bugging her with questions but when she read I checked which books. When she listened to music I listened to the words. I even saw Faithfully was the most played song on her IPod, ok I admit that part was spying.

The waitress came back asking if we wanted appetizers and Bella looked at me. Did she think I was going to order for her? I wouldn't be surprised if that fucker controlled every aspect of her life. I shrugged so she could decide and she ordered some platter full of disgusting human foods.

"Why did you come?" Crap. Damn Bella and her good questions. I can't tell her the truth but I didn't want to lie to her. I looked away knowing I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to confess everything. "Where is Emmett?" I could answer that question but I didn't want to. Not yet at least. "Was it you? That person that took me home after… was it you?" Now that was a question I could answer, though I'm surprised she didn't know. I shouldn't be. She was almost catatonic. I wanted to call Carlisle that day but I wasn't supposed to be in Forks at the time.

I asked her who she expected to be here. It had to be one of us but which one? Probably Alice, maybe Emmett, Esme or Carlisle. Then she said Jasper. Why the hell would she expect Jasper to be here? Not that he wouldn't if he had the chance, it was just Edward didn't trust Jasper.

As she explained her reasoning I came to the conclusion I was such an idiot. I should have put my name on that note. No matter what the consequences could have been. Then she had to go and bring up that damn birthday party. I almost killed Edward after Jasper tried to attack her. I wasn't mad at him. He tried so hard to keep control and Edward had to go and screw it up. I couldn't help wincing at the mention of it. I could have lost my mate that night.

God the way she talked about not blaming Jasper made me realize how much I loved her. She was so selfless, at times I hated it but at moments like this I loved her even more, if it was possible. Her food came and she scarfed it down. I watched her wondering when she ate last. My guess would be right around the time Edward left with small bits of food in between. I made a mental note to cook for her and gently force her to eat.

In hope of keeping Bella from asking questions I started to ask my own. First one was how school was going and apparently it was going well for her since she now had straight A's. Edward mentioned she had issues in math though. I asked her about it and Bella confessed she spent all of her time studying. I am going to kill Edward, or maybe convince Emmett to do it. He ruined her and I'm scared I can't fix her.

When I touched her for the first time, after making her angry, it was the best moment of my existence. She had to go and asked why I cared. I said I could tell her but I wanted to. I prayed she wouldn't ask again. I paid the bill most to Bella's dislike and we left.

We walked around for a few minutes when I noticed her shivering. I pulled my jacket off and put it around her shoulders. I escorted her to the pier, I always loved the ocean. My best human memories were of me and Vera taking Henry to the beach.

There was silence, it wasn't uncomfortable but I wanted to say something. I opened my mouth to say something when she started crying and asking why we left her. My dead heart was breaking all over again so I told her the truth. I had no choice. I didn't tell her everything, just how Edward made us leave.

I knew I fucked up as soon as I said Edward's name. She dropped to the ground in pain and I was glad I didn't have Jasper's gift. I offered to drive her home and took her keys. I didn't want to drive that blasted truck but I didn't have my own car yet. There was something wrong with the truck when I climbed into the driver's seat. It took me a minute to figure it out. The radio we got her for her birthday was missing. She had ripped it out with her bare hands. I was in too much pain to comment on what she had done. I hate myself for what I helped Edward do.

I asked her about her plans for the next day hoping we could spend time together but to my horror and disappointment she was spending the day in La Push with Jacob Black. I refused to be as controlling as Edward so I let her go, well let her in the sense of not telling her she wasn't allowed to go.

Bella went inside her house after declining my offer to carry her. I should have known she would say no. She hated feeling weak. I took the time to hunt and checked her window. To my surprise it was opened slightly. I wanted to go in there and be with her but I couldn't. She still didn't trust me and I was going to prove myself to her. I shut her window and ran to the woods so I could call Emmett.

"_Hello_," he answered.

"Hey Em," I said.

"_How did your date go_?" he asked excited.

"It wasn't a date Emmett," I said sadly. "And it was good. She isn't doing very well but hopefully I can fix that soon. Tomorrow she is going to La Push so I'm going to buy a condo or something in Port Angeles and get a car too. I would buy her a car but she wouldn't accept it."

"_That's our Bells_," Emmett said fondly.

"She asked about you," I told him. "I didn't tell her the truth. I don't want her to think she broke us up. She misses you Em."

"_I miss her too_," Emmett said. He really was the best brother anyone could hope for.

"I want to see how she does in the next week. My next weekend you can come down and visit," I suggested.

"_Yes_," he yelled causing me to wince.

"I got to go," I said. "I want to check on her again, or maybe all night long. God I sound pathetic."

"_Now you sound like a woman in love_," Emmett corrected. "_Call me again when you can Rose and good luck."_

We hung up and I climbed into the tree outside Bella's window. She was tossing and turning again so I opened her window and climbed in to calm her down. Once she was calm I left again. I ended up repeating this process about a dozen times throughout the night.

When daylight hit I headed to Port Angeles.


	4. Chapter 4

I could use a beta if anyone is interested

* * *

><p>Bella POV<p>

I had the weirdest dream. I dreamed Rosalie came back for me, to help me she said, but she wouldn't tell me anything else. It made sense. I wasn't creative enough to make up a possible reason for Rosalie to come back here. Though I wondered why I dreamt of Rosalie instead of him. "Bella," Charlie yelled. "Hurry up; we are leaving in an hour."

I got out of bed and stretched. Movement outside my window caught my eye. I whipped around and saw Rosalie sitting in a tree. I opened my mouth to scream but she was out of the tree and in my room with her hand over my mouth "It's just me Bella," she whispered softly in my ear.

"Last night wasn't a dream," I realized. I rested my head against her cold shoulder. It was oddly comfortable. I glanced at her face and she was frowning at me.

"No Bella, last night wasn't a dream," she said slowly. "I know you are going to La Push, I just wanted to see you before you left. I bought a car that is parked a few miles from here. While you are gone I'm going to get an apartment in Port Angeles, somewhere by the beach. I need a favor before I go."

"What do you need Rosalie?" I asked.

"Well make that two favors," she said. "First call me Rose, it's what my friends and family call me and don't tell Jacob Black I am back. He won't like it."

"Oh yeah, the Quileute's have their stories about vampires. I won't tell," I promised.

"Good," she said. "There's one last thing and then I will leave. Emmett wants to see you. I told him I would talk to you and if you agreed he will come down next weekend."

"Yes," I said a little too loudly. "I would love to see him." Something that looked a lot like hurt flashed through her eyes and I instantly felt guilty.

"Ok then, I will tell him. I need to go or you will be late," she said. She kissed my forehead and jumped out of my window.

I rushed through my shower and threw my clothes on, without getting hurt. When I finished I hurried downstairs and tripped on the last step. Charlie caught me before I fell. "Next time Bells don't wait until the last minute to get ready, then you won't get hurt," he said, steadying me.

Charlie drove my truck to La Push. It took longer but at least we didn't have to sit in the police cruiser. I could practically see Rosalie cringing at the thought of riding in the cruiser. This was the first time I really thought about her, weird. It was surprising; I mean she was incredibly nice last night and this morning. I wish I knew why. I am 100% certain she wasn't being completely honest with me. I doubt she came all the way out here, against her family's wishes, just to help me.

"Bella," Jacob yelled when Charlie cut the engine. "Hey Charlie."

"Hello Jacob," Charlie said. "Good to see you kid. Man you have grown a lot since I last saw you."

Jacob laughed and came to hug me. "It's been a few months since you saw me Charlie," he said. "Come on in.

Charlie went straight to the house while Jacob hung back and waited for me. "Good to see you Bells," he said quietly. "Charlie told my dad you weren't doing well after the Cullens left."

"I'm better Jake," I assured him, though it wasn't completely true. I wasn't doing well until I saw Rosalie last night. I wonder if it was her or just seeing one of them. "You got huge."

Jake stood well over 6' now and was well muscled to the point that it seemed overkill. "You know if we hung out more you may have noticed sooner," Jacob joked. I rolled my eyes at him and followed Charlie inside the house.

"Hey Bella, good to see you," Billy Black said when I got inside. His tone made it sound like he was happy I was away from the Cullens and I was away from them, well all but one. I was thinking about asking Emmett about Rosalie. He might tell me something. "Are you hungry? I was going to have Jacob throw some steaks on the grill."

My stomach snarled in hunger. "That sounds great Billy," I said honestly. It really did sound good. I just hope Jacob is a good cook. "I can help."

"You sure Bells?" Jake said. I nodded. "Alright, let's go."

I prepared the baked potatoes and salad while Jake seasoned the steaks before slapping them on the grill. Twenty minutes later we gathered around the small table in Billy's house. "Bella would you like to go for a walk after dinner?" Jake asked. I agreed because I thought it would be fun and it would get me away from Billy. I didn't enjoy the looks he was sending me.

I didn't eat much, at least not as much as I did yesterday. Charlie was used to it but Billy and Jake looked concerned. I ignored their looks and gave the rest of my steak to Jacob. He acted like he was starving even though he ate twice as much as Charlie and Billy.

Charlie and Billy volunteered to do dishes while Jake and I walked which meant Charlie was doing them and Billy was watching. "So," I said.

"So," Jake repeated. "Do you have a strong desire to walk along the beach or do you want to walk down the road?"

"The road is fine," I told him. We walked past the houses in comfortable silence.

"So are you doing better or are you faking it?" Jacob asked. I sighed. He was never one for tact.

"I'm fine Jake," I said. I was starting to sound like a broken record.

"You seem distracted," he said. I didn't realize I kept looking towards the La Push boundary. Part of me hoped Rosalie was standing at the boarder watching out for me. I knew she wasn't. Why would she? Besides she had more important things to do then watch me all day long. Not that she could even if she wanted to. She wasn't allowed to come to La Push.

"Just thinking," I said truthfully. "Today is the first day I've felt relaxed in a long time. It must be La Push." It was oddly relaxing here, maybe because he had never been here.

"Charlie seems happy you are doing better." Jacob said. "What caused the change?"

Rosalie, I said silently. Out loud I said, "I don't know. I felt like I needed to move on and actually do something, seeing you and Billy helped."

"I'm glad," he said beaming. "We should hang out more. Are you busy tomorrow?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "What did you have in mind?"

"We could hang out in my garage," he suggested. "Did I tell you I'm building a car?"

I frowned trying to remember if he told me about that. "I think you did but I don't remember. I would love to watch you build the car, I don't know anything about cars otherwise I would help."

"That would be great Bells," Jake said. His face lit up in excitement. "Well give me a call tomorrow, let me know if you want to come over."

We headed back to the house and I told Charlie I needed to go home to do homework, when in reality I wanted to see Rosalie again. Well I did need to do homework but probably wasn't going to get any done. Jacob offered to drive Charlie home after the game and I took my truck back.

There was no car in the driveway when I got home, either Rosalie wasn't here or she didn't bring her car. I went inside and started getting my books together for homework. I had just opened my math book when there was tapping on my window. Rosalie was sitting in the tree outside my window, again.

I got off my bed and opened my window. "You know you could just come in, instead of knocking every time," I told her. He never knocked. Now that I thought about it I actually liked that she respected me that much. This was going to suck when I figured out it was a trick.

"I could but I won't," Rosalie said. "I want to respect your privacy. I refuse to come into your room whenever I want just because I can. I will always wait for permission, unless something comes up."

"That's kind of you," I said sitting back on my bed. I pushed the books aside to make room for Rosalie. She sat down by me, keeping a distance.

"Did you have fun in La Push?" Rosalie questioned. She made a face at my math book. After going to school for so long I'm sure she hated school books.

"I did," I said. "Jake invited me to come by tomorrow to watch him build his car."

"Are you going?" she asked nonchalantly.

I glanced at her trying to figure out the meaning of her question. "I don't know. I wasn't sure if I had plans. Do we have plans?"

She looked at me. "That is up to you Bella. I'm not going to make you spend time with me. I did get a fully furnished apartment in Port Angeles; maybe sometime I can take you there and cook for you. I have a wonderful view of the ocean and a balcony"

"You can cook?" I asked surprised.

"Yes," Rosalie said suddenly nervous. "After I got the apartment I started watching the cooking channel and figured out how to cook some foods but not much."

"I would love to come down to your apartment tomorrow," I blurted out.

Rosalie's face lit up like a kid at Christmas. Strange. "That's great Bella. I can pick you up tomorrow if you want although you probably don't want Charlie to see me."

"He is going fishing tomorrow," I told her. "He leaves around six in the morning. You can pick me up if you want. Just knock on my window but please don't show up at six in the morning." Rosalie chuckled. She had obviously never seen a human that didn't get much sleep.

"I have a question for you," Rosalie said suddenly. I waited for her to continue. "I know you hate presents but would you allow me to buy you a car?"

"No," I practically shouted. Her face fell. "Sorry but I love my truck."

"What happens if your truck breaks down though?" Rosalie asked, sounding worried.

"I call for help," I said like it was obvious.

"With what?" she asked, rolling her eyes. The old Rosalie was showing. I frowned. I didn't have a phone. "What if I came up with a compromise?"

"What kind of compromise?" I asked hesitantly.

"Would you be willing to let me buy you a car sometime? Not today, or tomorrow or anytime soon but if your truck breaks down or something happens. I would let you pick the car out yourself," Rosalie said. It sounded like she had thought about this.

I thought about it. She was giving me a choice, something he never did and he would pout if I told him no. "Alright," I agreed. "But only if my truck breaks down."

"Deal," Rosalie said grinning. "I reserve the right to inspect the new car and reject any choices though and it has to be a new one." I groaned. I was hoping to pick out a used one but that's not going to happen anymore. "Will you let me buy you a cellphone? So you can call me or Emmett if you want or need to talk to us."

"Fine," I said after thinking about it. In reality it was a good idea to have one and I could call Emmett.

"Great," she said with a huge smile on her face. "I'll bring one for you tomorrow. I better go. Charlie is almost here with your friend. I'll see you in the morning." She kissed my forehead and in the blink of an eye she was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Rosalie POV

Alright Rosalie, focus. It was seven in the morning and I was getting my apartment ready for Bella's visit. I needed to go to the grocery store before I picked her up. There was no food in here. I had spent all night watching the cooking channel so I had a wide variety of foods to make her and I could figure out what her favorite foods were. Once I figured that out I would make them for her as often as she would let me.

I sped, at vampire speed, through the apartment making sure everything was perfect. Candles were set up on the balcony, and ready to be lit, so we would have light in the evening. I had a cabinet in my kitchen where I kept containers of blood in case she got hurt and I needed to feed. I would never allow her to be put in a dangerous situation so I have hunt often. I didn't want to leave her alone so the container of blood would hold me over.

There was a long list of things I had to buy. I planned on making lunch and dinner for her, figuring Bella would eat breakfast before I showed up, something Edward never did. He never even cooked for her. I don't see why. I mean the food is repulsive but it's not like he had to eat it and cooking wasn't going to hurt her unless he threw a knife at her. I snorted. Since when did he care about hurting her?

I rushed the shopping, not wanting to be around the humans more than necessary. Bella was one of two humans I can stand to be around. The second being Charlie, though I haven't officially met him yet. The only reason I would be able to stand him would be because he is Bella's father and he is a very important person in her life. After everything was stored away I hunted and got into my car and drove to Forks.

I drove quicker than normal knowing when Bella got in the car she wouldn't like it and I would have to drive slow. Charlie's police car was gone when I pulled into the driveway at 8am. I wonder why he went fishing knowing his daughter wasn't doing well after we left. Did he go fishing right after we left when she was catatonic? She may be doing better now that she saw me but if I were him I would be afraid of her doing something stupid... or stupider. She did hang out with vampires after all. Nothing could be considered stupider than that.

I shut the engine off and climbed out of my car. I knocked on the front door three times and waited for Bella to answer it. It only a couple minutes for her to open the door, I could hear her in the kitchen. "Hi Rosalie," Bella said shyly, stepping aside to let me in. It was almost as if she was surprised I was here. She probably thought I was going to leave her at any moment. I wish there was a way to convince her I wasn't going anywhere without confessing she is my mate.

"Good morning Bella," I said smiling at my mate. "Did you sleep well?" I prayed she did. The night I watched her I could tell she only slept well when she knew I was there. The thought made me sick, Edward had spent every night with her watching her sleep. It was unhealthy for her and he is a… I cut off at the thought.

"I did," she said. Her eyes said otherwise. She had dark circles under her eyes like she didn't sleep all night and I could hear the coffee pot going.

"You are a terrible liar," I said. I couldn't resist touching the dark circles under her eyes. She blushed. "Are you ready to go?"

"In a minute," she said. I followed her to the kitchen where she poured a cup of coffee. She offered me her cup before blushing and realizing I don't drink coffee. "Sorry, I forgot."

"It's alright," I said smiling at her. It still amazed me how considerate she was, even to vampires. "Did you eat yet?"

Bella shook her head and I frowned. "I wasn't hungry," she said, biting her lip. I resisted the urge to growl, moan, or throw her on the counter and kiss her. I'm fairly certain Bella will be the death of me and what bothered me the most was I didn't care.

"We can stop somewhere on the way to Port Angeles," I offered. "Even if we just get you one of those power bar things, for energy."

Bella laughed. "You mean a granola bar?" I shrugged. "Sure that would be nice, thank you."

I held the car door open for her once she finished her coffee. We drove to the gas station outside of town so I could fill up my corvette. "Here," I said sticking several twenties in her hand. "Buy whatever you would like."

Her eyes widened at that sight of the money, which was at least one hundred dollars, I didn't check before giving it to her. I had a feeling she had never held this much money before in her life. "This is too much," she said trying to hand all buy one twenty back to me. She didn't bring a purse or anything so I was assuming she had no money on her and that was the only reason why she was accepting it. That and I wouldn't let her buy anything.

"Take it," I said refusing to take the money back. "I don't know how much things cost and who knows you might need it. If not you can use it some other time. By the way I got you something." I pulled her new cell phone out of my purse and handed it to her. "Mine and Emmett's numbers are already in there for you." I thought about adding the others but it was best that I didn't. I'm sure Carlisle is mad at me for coming back.

"Thank you," Bella said blushing. Her blush was adorable. She turned and walked to the mini mart and I am ashamed to admit I watched her back side as she went.

Bella came back as I finished filling up my car. She had a small bag with only two items in it in one hand and a bottle of water in her other hand. I quickly replaced the nozzle and opened the car door for Bella. "I suppose it would be pointless to try and give you back the change?" Bella asked. I glanced at her and she was smiling.

"You would be right," I said smirking at her. "I wouldn't take the money back no matter how hard you tried." She ate quietly while I sped down the highway.

"Wow this is beautiful," Bella said when I pulled into the parking lot. I wanted to tell her nothing was beautiful compared to her but I held my tongue. That would open a can of worms that neither of us were ready for.

"It is," I agreed, looking at her.

I escorted Bella up to my apartment and held my breath as I opened the door. Her opinion mattered more to me more than anyone else's. Bella was speechless when we got inside. She had the biggest smile on her face. I didn't think I had ever seen her smile like that, not even around my idiot brother. "I love your apartment," Bella said stepping inside.

The apartment wasn't as glamorous as I usually got but it was comfortable. I know Bella preferred comfort to glamor. "Thank you," I said taking her coat and trash. I hung up the jacket and ran to the kitchen to dump the trash. "Let me give you the tour." I linked my arm with hers and led her around. My apartment had two bedrooms, one for my stuff and one for Bella if she ever wanted to stay the night. Only her bedroom had a bed in it.

"Why does this room have a bed in it?" Bella asked as I showed her her bedroom.

"This room is for you, if you ever want to stay the night here," I told her. "You are always welcome to stay."

Bella had a few tears rolling down her cheeks when I glanced at her. I couldn't stop myself from reaching up and wiping them away. "Why are you crying Bella?"

"It's nothing. I'm just really happy and thank you," she said. It took me a minute to figure it out. My family never offered her a bedroom when we all lived in Forks, it was always assumed she would sleep in Edward's room, but here I was, the ice queen, showing Bella that she was part of the family, part of my family and that I wanted to keep her around. I was giving her a room and a sense of privacy.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, proud of myself for remembering she had to eat.

Bella shrugged. "A little," she said. "But I can wait."

"It might take a while to cook," I said, leading her to the kitchen. I pulled out the list of foods I studied and handed it to her. "This is a list of foods I learned how to cook. Go ahead and pick one."

Bella scanned the list. I think she was surprised by how many things I could make. Esme couldn't cook half the things on this list. "Rose you don't have to cook anything, a sandwich would be fine," she said. I frowned. My mate really needed to get over her aversion to letting people do things for her.

"I want to cook for you Bella," I said. I wanted to dazzle her and force her to agree but I refused to trick her to get what I wanted. Edward did it all the time and I hated it. He didn't care that he was taking away her free will.

"Alright," Bella said finally agreed. "In that case Chef Rose I'll have the chicken salad with garlic bread."

I laughed and started pulling out different ingredients. Bella took a seat on the bar stool and watched. "Do you want help?" Bella asked.

"No thanks," I said. I needed to know I could cook for her without poisoning her. I winced at the thought of killing her, or hurting her in any way. "So was Jacob upset when you told him you couldn't come over?"

"He wasn't happy," she admitted. "I told him I needed to catch up on homework but I would come over after school tomorrow." I growled far too quietly for Bella to hear. I didn't want her near La Push or that mutt. I could smell him yesterday and he was close to phasing. Bella wasn't safe around him but to be fair she wasn't safe to be around either.

"Have fun," I said in an unconvincing voice. Bella noticed. I glanced at her and she was staring at me with her eyebrow raised.

"If you don't want me to go just say so," Bella said. She was far too used to being told what to do. "I'm sure E-Ed-Edward," she winced horribly when saying his name, "I'm sure he wouldn't let me go."

"I am not my brother," I said firmly and a little too loudly. "He was controlling, I am not. I want you to live and be happy." Even if it's not with me, I added silently. The thought hurt my dead heart but it was the truth. Her happiness is and always will be more important than my own.

"I still don't see why you care," Bella said softly. "If all you want is for me to get better than why didn't Alice come? Or Carlisle? Or even Emmett?" Damn Bella and her good observation skills.

I couldn't lie to her anymore but I couldn't tell her the whole truth. I wondered if that made me like Edward. I hoped not since I did plan on telling her everything but not right away. "Alice couldn't come," I answered. "She had a vision that you wouldn't react well to seeing her." The last part was a lie but Bella didn't know that. "Carlisle refused to get involved. He wanted to honor Edward's request." Bella flinched but it wasn't as bad as before. "Emmett wanted to come, he really did but I convinced him to let me come instead."

"You volunteered to come?" she asked shocked. I hated myself for how I treated her. She was so convinced I hated her that the idea of me being here for her was shocking.

"Yes," I said. "I don't hate you Bella. I never did and I plan to make it up to you."

"Do the others know you are here?" Bella asked.

"Emmett and Alice know," I answered. "I'm sure the others know now too but they haven't called me yet."

"Will they be mad?" Bella asked concerned.

There was no use lying to her now. I had a feeling if she asked again why I was here I would spill everything. "Alice and Emmett are happy I came over. Jasper won't be mad. If he knew how you were he would have come himself. Esme and Carlisle are probably mad because I disobeyed them."

"I'm sorry for getting you into trouble," Bella said, typical Bella, blaming herself for everything that happens. "But I am glad you came."

I grinned happily at that and did a mental dance. She was happy I was here. She's happy to see me. Okay may be that was a bit of a stretch but still she didn't hate my presence. "I'm happy I came back," I said trying to control my reactions.

I made sure everything was perfect before I placed the plates in front of her, one had garlic bread the other had her salad. "Thank you Rose," she said. She took a bite and smiled at me. "This is delicious."

Score one for Rosalie, I thought. Take that Edward.

After she ate I spent the next couple hours trying to teach Bella to dance. I was very happy I was a vampire because she kept stomping on my foot. I felt bad for her since it hurt her more than it hurt me but after a while she got better. She was nowhere near as graceful as me or the family but for a human she was doing very well.

It was getting dark outside when I started cooking dinner for Bella. I settled on pasta thinking she would like it. While I cooked she was watching TV which surprised me. I don't think I've ever seen Bella willingly watch TV. I lit the candles outside as the pasta cooked. I made sure the table was set up nicely. It almost looked like a romantic date and that made me frown. I didn't mean for it to look like a date. I would have to wait to see what Bella thought about it.

The food was done and I was leading Bella outside. Her eyes grew wide when she saw everything. "This is beautiful Rosalie," she said taking a seat. I sat the plate in front of her and took the spot across from her. I didn't want to seem rude for watching her so I had a cup of blood in front of me.

I checked my watch and as if on cue fireworks started going off over the ocean. "Whoa," Bella said. "Did you do that?"

If I was human I would be blushing. "Yes, I hired some guys to shoot some fireworks off. I thought you would like it and it's a good moving in celebration."

"I like it," Bella said, taking a bite of her pasta. "Today has been amazing. Thank you Rosalie for everything."

"Anytime Bella," I said honestly. "I talked Emmett. He is pleased you are giving him another chance. He won't let you down again." We sat silently and watched the fireworks while she ate.

"Rose, what happened with you two? You guys always seemed so happy and I didn't think mates could spend so much time away from each other," Bella asked. I wondered if Bella paid attention to what she just said.

"You're right," I said. "True mates cannot be away from each other for too long. However Emmett and I are not true mates. We loved each other very much but we both knew it would never last. Alice had a vision and Emmett will find his mate in ten years."

"What about your mate?" Shit. Quick Rosalie, think of something.

I shrugged. "I'm sure I will find my mate soon." I groaned. Nice job Rosalie now your mate may never believe the truth.

Bella furrowed her brow in concentration. "You said true mates can't stay apart." I nodded. She seemed to be putting the pieces together. "That means E-Edward isn't my true mate," she realized.


	6. Chapter 6

Bella POV

_He's_ not my true mate. How could this happen? I couldn't stop the tears from forming. "If he's not my mate then why did he have a relationship with me?" I touched the scar on my arm. It all could have been avoided. Did he ever love me? No don't think that, he loved me. He didn't know. Yes that's it, he didn't know.

Rosalie got out of her chair and kneeled down in front of me. "I think he cared for you, maybe even loved you but in the end you two would have never have worked out."

"You don't know that," I snapped at her. "We belonged together. I know we did." The last part came out as a whisper. She growled but I ignored it. She has been growling a lot and I can't figure out why.

"You are his singer," Rosalie said simply. "Jasper told me when Edward first found out about you that singers could never be mated to the vampire because the vampire will always kill their singer. Edward managed to keep control for so long because he did love you but the night of your birthday party his desire to kill you was too great."

"Is that why you didn't like me? Because you knew he would kill me and didn't want the family exposed," I asked. The blonde vampire was hard to figure out. She claimed to never hate me but she couldn't deny that she didn't like me.

"No, that's not the reason," Rosalie said hesitantly. "I didn't want him to kill you. That first day you came over to the house Edward heard my thoughts and told me to stay away. I wasn't there because he wouldn't let me be there, not because I didn't like you."

"Did the rest of the family know?" I asked. I was angry at the family for never telling me or him the truth, for putting me in danger for no reason, for leaving me.

"At first only Jasper did," Rosalie answered honestly. "But now Emmett and Alice also know. Alice saw a vision of your future before we left and you didn't end up with Edward. I don't think Carlisle and Esme know yet but Alice might have told them after I left."

"Who do I end up with?" I asked. I hoped it wasn't Mike.

Rosalie didn't answer; instead she looked at my plate that was now empty. "I should get you home. I don't want your father to worry about you." I sighed. I was getting annoyed with her avoiding my questions but I'm sure she had a good reason, she better have a good reason. If she won't tell me by next weekend I was going to make Emmett tell me.

Rosalie took the dishes to the kitchen before I had a chance to stand up. By the time I got to the kitchen Rosalie was drying off the dishes and putting them away. "Are you ready?" she asked, not looking at me.

"Yes," I mumbled. I wonder if I said or did something wrong. She seemed rather eager to get rid of me.

She placed her hand on my lower back and escorted me to her car. I had to admit her car was amazing. I would love to drive it sometime but I wasn't going to ask. If I did Rosalie might take that as her cue to buy me one.

She drove slowly, for her, which surprised me. She actually followed the speed limit. "Rose, why are you driving so slowly?" I couldn't help but ask.

"You don't like when we drive fast," she said like it was obvious. I stared at her with my mouth open. He never drove slow for me but here Rosalie was going well below her normal speed limit just because it made me more comfortable.

"Thank you," I said offering her a smile. I wished we could have been friends sooner. I really like hanging out with her.

"You're welcome Bella," she said smiling back at me. "I hope your dad won't be mad at you for being out late."

I was touched by her concern. "Charlie won't be mad, quite the opposite, he will be happy I'm out and doing something," I said. I'm sure he would have been happier if I was hanging out with Jacob but that will be tomorrow.

"Alright then, I don't want to get you into trouble," Rosalie said. Charlie's car was in the driveway when Rosalie pulled along the road. "Charlie's asleep on the couch."

Sure enough when I walked into the house Charlie was snoring on the couch. "Charlie," I said shaking him awake. He snored louder and rolled over. Dang, how I am going to get him upstairs?

"Want some help?" Rosalie said standing in the doorway. It looked as if she had been there the whole time.

"Yes please," I said, trying to lift Charlie up. My knees buckled from his weight.

Rosalie walked gracefully to the couch, lifted Charlie with ease and carried him upstairs. I followed as quickly as I could. She already had him in bed by the time I got upstairs. "Thank you," I said, leading her back to my room.

"Anytime Bella," she said. She made no move to leave.

"Rose, can you stay here tonight, with me?" I asked. I still wasn't sleeping well and I was certain having her close by would help.

"Sure," Rosalie said. I grabbed some pajamas and changed in the bathroom. When I got back to my room she was lying on my bed. It was weird seeing Rosalie relaxed on my bed. I never thought we would be in this position. I crawled onto my bed keeping a distance from Rosalie. She may have agreed to stay with me but I doubt she wanted me using her as a pillow. "Bella," she said sighing. "You don't have to sleep at the edge of the bed. I'm not going to bite you if you lean on me."

I blushed though I have no idea why. I rolled over and leaned against Rosalie, my head on her cool shoulder. Her scent and cold body relaxed me and I drifted off to sleep.

The next morning I rolled over and hit my head on something soft and hard at the same time. It was rather comfortable and I was nestling my head into the object, which I assumed was my pillow, when I heard moaning. I lifted my head in surprise and realized I was using Rosalie's chest as a pillow. I blushed as I scampered out of bed.

"Bella," Rosalie said softly. She wasn't angry, that's a good sign.

"I'm so sorry Rosalie," I blurted out. I didn't want her to go back to hating me. "I didn't mean it. I thought you were my pillow."

"Bella," Rosalie repeated.

"I should have never have asked you to stay. Now you are going to hate me," I said ignoring her.

"Bella," Rosalie yelled getting off my bed to stand in front of me. "I'm not angry. You were asleep it's not like you planned it." I could have sworn I heard her mutter unfortunately under her breath. "Now your father already left for work and you need to get ready for school. I was going to wake you up in a few minutes. I can make you breakfast while you are in the shower."

I nodded and grabbed some clothes for school while she went downstairs. Rosalie was finishing up breakfast by the time I walked downstairs. "I'm going to hunt while you are at school," Rosalie said setting a plate of pancakes with cut up strawberries in front of me. "Would you like to take my car? I know you are going to La Push after."

"No thanks," I said taking a bite of the pancake. It was delicious, as was everything she made. "I don't want to explain to Jacob, or my friends, where I got an expensive car." Rosalie nodded in agreement. "What are you going to do after you hunt?"

"I'm not sure," Rosalie admitted. "I will probably call Emmett and see how the family is doing, see how angry Carlisle and Esme are at me."

"I hope they don't yell at you," I said. I didn't want the family to break apart because of me.

"They won't," she assured me, though I couldn't tell if she was saying that to make me feel better or if she actually meant it.

I checked the clock after I ate and saw I was going to be late. I hugged Rosalie and drove to school.

School passed by quickly. I was super distracted and I couldn't remember half of what was said. I started driving to La Push, wishing I would have taken Rosalie up on her offer.

On the way to La Push I saw a house holding a garage sale. In front of the house was two beaten up and broken motorcycles. I cut the engine, hopped out of my truck and walked to a guy about my age. "How much for the bikes?" I asked.

He stared at me like I was crazy. "Take them," he said quickly, as if he really wanted them gone. "My parents want them gone and we weren't expecting anyone to be interested." I frowned, not wanting to take the bikes for free, and pulled out two twenty dollar bills left over from what Rosalie gave me.

"Here," I said, sticking the money in his hand. He tried to hand it back but I refused to take it so he gave up and helped load the bikes into the bed of my truck.

My hands were sweating as I made my way to La Push. Charlie would freak out if he found out I had motorcycles and I imagine Rosalie wouldn't be very happy either.

Jake was standing outside of his house when I pulled into the driveway, the sound of my truck alerting him to my presence. "Bella," he yelled excited, almost too excited for my liking. "What do you have here?" His eyes darted to the back of my truck.

"I passed by a garage sale and saw two beat up motorcycles. I was hoping maybe you could fix them," I said. He opened the hatch and pulled the bikes out with little effort. I remembered them being heavy when I helped load them into the truck. "Wow, you are strong Jake."

He chuckled. "Maybe you would notice if we hung out more," he said.

"I saw you yesterday," I reminded him. I half pushed half dragged one bike to Jake's garage while he carried his bike.

"That's true," he said. "Where were you last night? I called but Charlie said you were out."

"I went to Port Angeles," I answered honestly. There was no use lying to him, I wasn't good at it. "Browsed the bookstore and got some food."

Jake cleared off a spot in his garage for me to sit while he started taking apart one of the bikes. "These bikes are going to take a lot of work and money," Jacob said, poking around.

"I'll help," I volunteered. It would be a good distraction and Charlie would like me hanging it out with Jake. Jake looked at me. "I mean I'll try to help."

He thought about it for a minute before nodding. "I need these parts cleaned," he said pointing to the parts on the floor. "I'll be able to figure out if they can be used and if not what I will need."

I got out of the chair and collected the pieces before heading to the sink. "There should be a rag and some spray for rust," he told me.

Sure enough right next to the sink was a rag and a bottle of rust remover. I gently cleaned the motorcycle parts while Jake continued to tear the bikes apart. "Jake," I said drying off a spring. He looked up from his work. "When the bikes are done will you teach me to ride?"

"Sure," he said smiling at me. "It may take a while though. It's going to take a lot of money."

"Don't worry about money," I said, though I was in fact worried. I had some money saved up and about a hundred dollars from what Rosalie had given me. I just hoped it was enough. "I have some saved up."

I checked the phone Rosalie gave me, careful so Jacob didn't see it, and realized it was getting late. "I have to go Jake," I said, slightly bummed. "Charlie will be home soon and I need to get dinner ready." He promised to keep working on the bikes until I got a chance to come back.

Charlie wasn't home when I pulled into the driveway and there was no sign of Rosalie. I sighed and started cooking dinner. It felt strange cooking. Rosalie had spoiled me yesterday and this morning. I was pulling the homemade enchiladas out of the oven when I heard the front door open. "Bella," Charlie called.

"In the kitchen dad," I called back. I cleaned up my school books while our food cooled down.

"Evening Bells," Charlie said. "Something smells good."

"Dinner's ready, just cooling down," I said flashing him a smile. He stared at me for a minute, completely shocked.

He was quiet as I served the food, warning him that it was still hot. "It's good to see you smile again Bells," he said making me frown. I didn't realize how bad I had gotten. "I don't want to ruin your good mood but what brought about this change?"

"I went and saw Jacob after school," I said. My visit to him wasn't the reason for my change but I couldn't tell Charlie that Rosalie was back.

Charlie's face lit up. Clearly he was happy I was spending time with Jake. "That's good Bells," Charlie said. "What you were like in September when you were catatonic… I'm glad you are doing better." I flinched at the mention of the week after my birthday.

"I'm sorry dad," I said quietly. I never meant to hurt him as much as I did.

Charlie got up and gave me an awkward one armed hug. "It's ok Bella," he said. "I love you kiddo."

"I love you too dad," I said.

Charlie coughed and pulled away. "Why don't you go on upstairs and study. I'll take care of the dishes."

I grabbed my books and climbed upstairs to find Rosalie lounging on my bed. "What are you doing here?" I whispered. I don't why I was whispering. Charlie won't be able to hear me above the water and the sound of the TV.

She looked up and looked sad. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No," I almost yelled. "No, I just didn't expect you to be here."

"I came to see how it went with Jacob," Rosalie said. She turned to glare at me before her face softened. "I overheard your conversation with Charlie. I didn't mean to listen but… you were catatonic after we left?" I nodded and blinked. Rosalie was standing right in front of me. "I am so sorry Bella." She took my hands and gently kissed them. If she could cry I am positive she would be.

"It's ok Rose," I said, swallowing hard. "It's not your fault."

She nodded and walked me to the bed. "Alice had a vision of you buying broken motorcycles. Care to explain?"

I avoided looking at her and Rosalie sighed. "If you wanted a motorcycle I would have bought one for you, a new one not a piece of shit."

"Jacob is going to rebuild them with my help, well I was cleaning parts. We just need the money for it," I said, not meaning to say the last bit.

"Is there no way to change your mind about this?" she asked. I shook my head. "Well then will you allow me to pay for the parts?"

I thought about it for a minute. I don't want her paying for anything but I don't have the money to repair the bikes and I'm sure she knew that. "Alright," I agreed. "But I won't take a penny more than what it costs to fix them."

"Thanks Bella," she said smiling. "I will get a credit card in your name. Use it to buy the parts then you can give it back. Emmett is excited to see you."

"I'm excited to see him," I admitted. I missed my bear of a brother. "Wait a minute; you said Alice saw me buying the bikes." Rosalie nodded confused as to what my point was. "How did Alice not know what was going to happen to me when you guys left?"

Rosalie frowned. "I'm not exactly sure," she admitted. "But I do know he told Alice not to look for your future. I think she was honoring his wishes and if you were catatonic then you weren't making decisions so Alice wouldn't see that."

"Oh," I said, feeling stupid.

"Bella, Alice would have never let you suffer. If she knew what would happen she would have done something and I would have never have left. Are you tired?" Rosalie asked as I yawned loudly. I nodded. "Sleep Bella." She started singing Faithfully to me and I slipped into a deep sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Rosalie POV

"Dude she felt you up and you did nothing?" Emmett asked, as I filled him in on the events of the last week. I hate it when he calls me 'dude' but it's Emmett, he will never stop and if you tell him you don't like it he will do it more often. I learned that the hard way.

I sighed. I probably should not have mentioned that to him, at least not at first. Now that was going to be his focus. "She was asleep Emmett," I said. "What was I supposed to do?" Emmett opened his mouth to say something but I stopped him. No doubt he was going to say something sexual and it would piss me off because he would be right. "I take that back. I don't want you to answer that."

"When do I get to see her?" Emmett asked. He drained another bear as he waited for me to answer. I met him near Port Angeles where my apartment was so we could hunt. Emmett hasn't been around humans much since we left and I didn't want any issues when he was around my Bella, though I was certain he would never hurt her. He loved her too much to hurt her but accidents did happen.

I checked my watch. "She won't be out of school for another two hours. I told her we would pick her up from school," I informed him. She was so excited Emmett was coming she wanted to skip school but I told her I needed to hunt and she finally agreed to go. Typical Bella, she will agree to do something just so I won't be uncomfortable. "How mad is Carlisle?"

"I thought you talked to him," Emmett said confused.

"I did," I said snorting. It wasn't much of a conversation. "But it is Carlisle; he's not going to tell me how angry he is over the phone, especially when he thinks I might hurt Bella in retaliation." Like I could ever hurt her, even if I wanted to.

"He's mad you went against his orders," Emmett confessed. "He can't understand why you got involved in a decision regarding Edward's mate." I growled and he raised his hands. "His words not mine. I tried to tell him I didn't think Bella was Edward's mate but Carlisle wouldn't listen to me."

"I love Carlisle but he is a fool sometimes," Rosalie muttered. "He is completely blinded by Edward."

"Everyone was blinded by Edward," Emmett said. "How could we have been so stupid?"

I shook my head. "Even if I told them the truth they would have never have believed me." Emmett looked like he wanted to protest. "I'm the Ice Queen remember? They won't believe me over the Golden Boy."

We walked through the forest back to my apartment. "Alice and Jasper said if we wanted to leave the family then they would follow us."

"We can't ask them to do that," I said, though I would love to go away. "Where would be go anyway?" I didn't mention I would never leave Bella.

"Jasper mentioned we could go to Texas with Peter and Charlotte. We obviously wouldn't be able to keep the name Cullen so Jasper offered to let us use Whitlock," Emmett said. This is one of the few times I had ever seen him act mature and serious. The other time was when Edward forced us to leave Bella and Emmett refused on my behalf, as well as his own. I couldn't fight for Bella so Emmett did it for me and I couldn't be more grateful.

"I'm not leaving Bella," I said firmly. "Not again. I promised I wouldn't leave her again."

Emmett held up his hands. "I never said you should leave her." He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. A quick look told me it was new identities for Bella. "Jasper called Jenks after you came back here, had him make new identities for Bella in case something happened and we needed to get her out of Forks." I read the IDs; one said Isabella Marie Whitlock, the other read Bella Marie Hale. "Jazz thought you might like the second one. Obviously she wouldn't be able to use it when we started going to school again but it's still nice. He made one more just in case." I took it and it read Isabella Marie McCarty, Emmett's human last name. My guess was we would say she is Emmett's sister.

"This was nice of him," I said, touched by his actions. He seemed to be tough but he was one of the nicest guys I had met. Other than Emmett I was closest to Jasper, most likely because he had spent over fifty years pretending to be twins and he knew my emotions better than I did.

"If we move we should take Bella with us," Emmett said. "Or wait till she is supposed to go to college."

We climbed into my car and I sped back to Forks. "Emmett, stop bouncing, you're like a little kid waking up on Christmas day."

"Sorry," he said. "I'm just so excited to see my baby sister." I smiled. Emmett was such a great guy. I can't wait for him to meet his mate. He deserves it.

We pulled into the parking lot just as the final bell rang. "I'll go get her," I said, climbing out of the car. "Wait here Emmett."

To my complete and utter surprise Emmett did as I asked. It only took a few minutes for me to find Bella at her locker. "Hey," I said, berating myself for sounding so human and pathetic.

Bella jumped at the sound of my voice. "Hi Rose," she said, dropping her things to give me a quick hug. She bent over to pick her things up but before she could get to them I swiftly grabbed them. She looked at the floor surprised that her things suddenly disappeared. It took her a moment but she looked at me finally understanding what happened. "Thank you." She tried to take them back but I refused to let her.

"Come on," I said, trying my best to ignore her pouting. "Emmett is waiting for you."

Her face lit up at the mention of Emmett and I resisted the urge to growl. It hurt knowing she was more excited to see Emmett than me but I couldn't blame her, not after everything I had done to her. I just wish there was a way to convince her of my devotion to her, without telling her I was her mate. Emmett insisted I tell her but I can't.

I led her out to my car where Emmett was waiting. We were going to head back to Port Angeles for a while and hang out at my apartment, assuming she asked her father and had permission to go. "Did you talk to your father?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "He's getting suspicious though. I need to tell him I am hanging out with you."

"You can tell him if you want," I told her. I didn't like the idea of her lying to her dad. Edward had her lie to him constantly and I didn't like it then either. Yes some lies were necessary but there was nothing wrong with Bella telling her dad I was back in town. Besides the whole town know knew I was back since I walked into the school.

"Are you sure?" she asked sounding uncertain. "I understand if you don't want people to know we are…" I grabbed her arm to stop her, my eyes darkening in anger at her thoughts. I wasn't mad at her but I hated what she was thinking.

"They already know Bella. I walked into the school," I reminded her. "I think it would be best to tell him. So he doesn't hear it from anyone else. It might be a good idea to tell him Emmett will be visiting."

She blushed, most likely in embarrassment. "Oh yeah," she mumbled. "I'll tell him tonight."

"Belly Boo," Emmett yelled. He was leaning against my car waiting for us. As soon as Bella was close to him he pushed away from the car and wrapped his large arms around her. "I've missed you Bella," he whispered in her ear.

"I missed you too Emmy Bear," she said giggling. Jealousy welled up in my chest and I wanted to throw him into a wall, or a fire pit.

Emmett noticed my reaction and quickly pulled away. "Sorry," he muttered too quietly for my mate to hear.

"I know you didn't mean anything," I said sighing quietly. I turned my attention to Bella. "Should we get going?"

"Sure," she said, reaching to open the backseat.

"You are sitting in the front," Emmett said, gently swatting her hand away from the door.

Bella climbed in the front next to me and I sped off to Port Angeles. "So what are we going to do?" Bella asked, twisting her hands together. She must have been nervous seeing Emmett again.

"We are going to go back to my apartment," I said. "I can stop and pick up some food for you on the way and we can play games or something, maybe walk around town and shop."

Bella made a face. She knew shopping meant spending money on her and she didn't like it. "Yeah," Emmett said from the backseat. "I need to get you a birthday present."

Bella gulped nervously. "You already got me a present," she said shakily. There was something off with Bella and I was determined to find out what it was.

"No," Emmett said shaking his head. "It was more from Jasper than me or Rosalie. Jasper was wanted to get you a present but was afraid Edward," Bella winced and I growled at him but he ignored it and kept going, "would get mad at him so he added our names to it."

There was definitely something wrong with Bella. I didn't need Jasper's gift to know she was acting stranger than normal. I knew she didn't like talking about her birthday party but it seemed more than that. When I got a chance I was going to have to ask her about it. "Emmett you don't have to buy me anything," Bella said. Typical Bella, I thought rolling my eyes. I love her but she was ridiculous sometimes.

"But I want to," he said and I saw him stick his tongue out at her. He was such a kid sometimes.

Bella sighed quietly. It was nice to know she realized fighting him was useless. I grabbed her hand. "Don't worry," I told her. "I'll keep him from going too crazy." She smiled gratefully at me.

As I drove I could hear Emmett talking to himself, trying to come up with the perfect birthday present. "No car," I told him quietly. He looked up. "I'm buying her a car when hers dies or I finally get her to agree to have one."

He pouted for half a second before mumbling other ideas, all of which were expensive and something Bella would probably hate. "A laptop," I said. He looked at me. "She's always complaining about her computer. Buy her a laptop, she will like that."

"Can we stop for food?" Bella asked quietly when we got to Port Angeles. She asked so quietly I had a feeling she hadn't meant for me to hear. I really need to do something about that.

"Of course Bella," I said smiling at her. I frowned as her heart skipped a beat. I was happy she was reacting to me but I was a little confused to why and I didn't want her to get hurt.

"Damn vampires," she muttered and I started chuckling. "Geez can you hear everything?"

"Just about," I said, laughing as Bella groaned. "What do you want to eat?" Bella bit the inside of her cheek. If she bit it any harder we were going to have a problem. "Bella, easy," I said softly. "If you're not careful your mouth will start bleeding." I would be able to resist her blood and I'm sure Emmett could too but I didn't want to cause any problems, or let her know her blood held no temptation for me. I didn't want her trying to push it.

"I don't care," Bella said.

"Chinese," Emmett said to me. "She loves Chinese. It's her guilty pleasure. Charlie doesn't like it so she didn't eat it much. Esme used to buy it for her."

"You know there's this Chinese restaurant not far away," I commented offhandedly. I smirked inwardly as her jaw dropped. "I heard it's supposed to be good. You want some food there?"

"Sure," Bella said trying to act like it didn't matter. "But it's really expensive and I don't have much money on me. McDonalds would be just as good."

"Ok first off no human hanging out with me will ever eat McDonalds," I said firmly. That place of horrid for a human restaurant. I would throw myself into the nearest fire before I ever walked inside of that restaurant. "Second I'm paying and don't even try to argue. If you don't tell me what you want I will order one of everything."

Bella's eyes widened, good she knew I wasn't kidding. "Fine," she said. It didn't take long for her to give up. She must have been really hungry. "I like Kung Pow chicken, chow main and beef and broccoli."

I nodded and pulled into the driveway. "I'll get it," Emmett announced jumping out of my car. What is he up to?

"Is there something wrong with Emmett?" Bella asked. "He's asking more hyper than usual."

"He missed you," I said. "He knows how sad you have been since we left and he wants to make it up to you."

"I wasn't…" Bella started but I cut her off.

"You were sad," I interrupted. "Don't pretend like you weren't." Bella's face fell and I cursed myself. "It's ok to be sad Bella. You lost your family but we are back now."

"Not everyone," she muttered. It was hard to tell if she meant Edward, or Alice and Jasper, or Esme and Carlisle. I don't think she was happy with Edward right now, which was good for me, but I'm sure she still loved him. I didn't want to see Carlisle but if it made Bella feel better I would deal with it. I would love to see Esme again.

I acted like I didn't hear her, figuring that's what she wanted. "What happened to the present Jasper, Emmett and I got you?" I asked suddenly. She shifted nervously in her seat. "Bella?"

"I tore it out of my truck," Bella confessed. I stared at her in shock. Taking a truck stereo out would take a lot of work. I doubt she used tools, I doubt she knew how to use tools, so it made me wonder how she did it.

"How?" I asked. Something told me I didn't want to know the answer.

"I ripped it out with my hands," she said, looking down at her hands. I planned on checking her truck to see how much damage she did. Her hands looked fine, she must have done it right after we left.

A few minutes later Emmett came back with a big bag of take out. "Hey Bells," he said cheerfully climbing into the car.

Bella's eyes widened at the amount of food he got. I guess I was the only one that knew how much a human girl ate, or the only one that paid attention to how much she ate. Emmett, Esme even Edward always got her way too much food. For someone that claimed to love Bella he sure as hell didn't pay much attention to her. "Did you buy the entire restaurant?" Bella asked in disbelief.

Emmett grinned sheepishly. "Um, no?" he said. "I wasn't sure how much you ate or how hungry you were."

"You have enough food for your entire family," Bella said. She started giggling at how ridiculous it was.

"Well now Rose will have food for you when you visit," Emmett said shrugging. This was his way of trying to get us to spend more time together.

"Chinese food doesn't last that long in the fridge," Bella informed him, obviously not understanding Emmett's point.

I sighed quietly when we got to my apartment, spending the afternoon with Bella and Emmett was certainly going to be interesting. I just hope my secret will be kept quiet.


	8. Chapter 8

Wow I did not realize it had been a month since I updated. Sorry about that.

Anyway some questions are answered in this chapter and Rosalie's actions in Twilight and the beginning of New Moon are explained.

For the purpose of this story Edward never asked Rosalie to switch clothes with Bella when they were running from James. Just in case someone was wondering why it wasn't mentioned.

* * *

><p>Bella POV<p>

Emmett was staring at me. We had just gotten to Rosalie's apartment and I opened a couple containers of food on the coffee table. Apparently Emmett decided I needed every last bit of Kung Pow chicken, chow mien and beef and broccoli the restaurant had because I had three containers of each.

Rosalie went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of milk. I glanced at her surprised. "I heard milk is good for humans," she said shrugging.

I laughed. It was such a strange thing for her to know or even care about. Then something hit me. "You have human food here?" I asked surprised.

"Yes," she said slowly. "I had human food the last time you were here too." I blushed in embarrassment. I had forgotten about that.

"Right," I said feeling stupid.

"Anyway, what are we going to do?" Emmett asked bouncing in his seat.

I shrugged and shoveled another forkful of chow mien into my mouth. I would let the two of them decide. I didn't want to bore them with what I considered fun. I did, however, want to get Emmett alone so I could talk to him.

Rosalie was studying me. Probably trying to figure out what I wanted to do but Emmett couldn't stand the silence. "Xbox," he yelled, causing me to drop my fork in surprise. Rosalie glared at him though I don't know why. He wasn't that loud. I was just easily startled.

"I don't have an Xbox here," Rosalie said. Her tone made me think she didn't like the game systems.

"Well in that case I will have to go buy one," Emmett said getting up. I quickly shoveled more food into my mouth. This was my opportunity to talk to him alone. Somehow I doubt Rosalie would want to go shopping for an Xbox.

"Can I go with you?" I asked. For the first time since I had known them I managed to surprise Emmett and Rosalie.

"You want to go?" they both asked. Rosalie's tone was disbelief while Emmett was excited.

"Yes," I said biting my lip nervously. Rosalie was giving me a strange look and her eyes darkened. "Can I?" I asked again when the vampires didn't say anything.

Suddenly Emmett got an evil look in his eye and I knew I was in trouble. "Sure you can come," he said grinning. Rosalie stared at him for a moment before smirking. She knew whatever he was up to and liked the idea. "But," he added before I could be happy. "You have to let me buy you two Xbox games and you're not allowed to complain about your birthday present."

Crap, I thought. I really wanted to go with him so I could talk to him but I didn't want him to buy anything for me. He doesn't know how badly I want to go. Maybe I can negotiate with him. "How about one game and I promise not to complain about my birthday present," I suggested. My heart skipped a beat as I waited for him to answer. Emmett and Rosalie's heads cocked to the side when they heard my heart.

Emmett paused for a minute, stroking his chin. It looked like he was thinking about it. That was a good sign. "I agree," Emmett said slowly. My heart jumped. Was it really that easy? Rosalie scooted closer to me. "But for every time you do complain I will add another game."

"Alright," I said groaning. This was going to be more difficult than I expected. Was it really worth it?

I looked at Rosalie. She was studying me, much like she had been over the last couple days and I got my answer. Yes it was worth it.

"Let's go," Emmett said cheerfully, he was obviously oblivious to my internal struggle.

"Emmett she is still eating," Rosalie said rolling her eyes at him.

I shoved a few more forkfuls of food into my mouth, chewing as quickly as I could, and drained my glass before jumping up and sticking the food into the fridge for later.

Their eyes were wide when I returned, not expecting me to be in such a hurry, especially when gifts for me were involved. "I'm ready," I announced. Emmett nodded and grabbed Rosalie's car keys from the coffee table. He glanced at Rosalie and I had a feeling they were having a silent conversation.

"Have fun Bella," Rosalie said smiling. The smile looked forced, almost as if she didn't want me to go.

"Ok spill," Emmett said once we were in Rosalie's car.

"Spill what?" I asked feigning innocence.

"I know you Bells," Emmett said. "You would have never agreed to this unless you wanted to talk to me alone. Did Rose do something?"

"No, Rosalie has been great," I assured him. "I've just been wondering things. She's been acting weird since she came back, not counting the fact that she's being nice to me."

"Rose never hated you," Emmett said.

That was one thing I couldn't believe, no matter how many times I heard it. "She did," I said. "I remember."

"Why do you think she hates you?" Emmett asked. He seemed confused.

I thought about all the instances that I could remember. "The first time I came to your house she wasn't there," I said.

"I wasn't there either," Emmett reminded me.

"E…Ed…" I took a deep breath. "Edward," I winced horribly at saying his name. "He said Rosalie hated me and you were with her to try to convince her to come over and Rosalie said he told her to stay away."

Emmett frowned for a few seconds before his expression changed. "What he told you wasn't true," Emmett said angrily. "Rose was right though. He didn't want her there and she needed to hunt before you came over. She didn't want to hurt you and I went with her. That way Edward wouldn't be mad and she could hunt."

"He lied to me," I whispered. I should have known. He lied about me being his mate. I don't understand why he lied about Rosalie though. I firmly believed he never told me I wasn't his mate because he loved me and didn't want to lose me.

"What else have you noticed?" Emmett wondered.

"Well Rosalie was mad when he saved me," I said.

Emmett shook his head. "She was mad he almost exposed us but she was happy you didn't die. What else?"

"The baseball game," I said hesitantly, hoping his reaction wasn't too bad. His grip tightened on the steering wheel but other than that he seemed fine so I continued. "She looked ready to kill me when I called her out."

Much to my surprise Emmett started laughing. "That had nothing to do with you," he said. "Rose is very competitive." That made sense. I wasn't the only one she glared at that night. She even snapped at Carlisle and Esme.

"My birthday party," I said wincing at the reminder. "She looked almost happy that I got the paper cut and Jasper snapped."

"That's not true," he said. His voice was a lot softer. "She was in shock. We all were. She never expected you to get hurt let alone Jasper trying to attack you. Honestly she was the only one other than Carlisle that was unaffected by your blood. Once the shock was over we worked on getting Jasper out of there. It was Rosalie that calmed him down."

"Why would Rosalie do that?" I wondered.

"Someone had to do it," Emmett said quickly. "Edward," I flinched, "was busy taking care of you and acting all high and mighty." It sounded like Emmett didn't think very highly of him.

Minutes later we were parked at Best Buy. "Is that all you wanted to know?" Emmett asked me.

"No," I said quietly. There was more but I wasn't sure if I should bring it up now." Emmett turned to face me, patiently waiting for me to continue. "She's avoiding my questions and it is frustrating because he used to hide things from me. I don't like being lied to."

Emmett sighed. "She isn't doing it on purpose," he said. "She wants to help you before she answers all your questions."

"But I'm fine," I protested.

He looked into my eyes. "Edward," he said and I flinched. "Not fine. Ask your questions and I'll see about answering them."

"I'm sorry about you and Rose," I said softly.

Emmett shrugged. "It's fine. We've always been close but only as friends. I loved her when we first met but I knew it wouldn't last. Besides I will meet my mate in ten years."

"How did you know it wouldn't last?" I asked.

"When we tried to have sex shortly after I was changed she threw me through a wall and into a tree. I never tried since then and we figured it would be best to be friends. We pretended to be together over the years to keep the humans away," Emmett explained.

I blushed at the mention of sex and was thankful when Emmett didn't comment about it. "Why would she do that?" I asked confused. I was under the impression they had sex all the time

"You don't know about her past?" he asked surprised. I shook my head. "I expected Edward to tell you, or her."

"He's only told me about his and Carlisle's past and a bit of Esme's. Esme filled in the blanks though and well I know about Alice's," I said. There was no need to say how I knew about Alice's past.

Emmett frowned. "It's not my place to say anything, I am sure she will tell you eventually, just give her time."

"What about your past?" I asked curious.

"Well I was born in 1915 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee," Emmett started. "I was a hunter in my human life and in 1935 I was hunting and got mauled by a black bear. Rose found me and carried me to Carlisle and begged him to save me. I think she knew we were going to be close and may have mistaken it for mates but I'm happy she saved me."

"Is that why you love bears?" I asked.

"Yeah," Emmett laughed. "I guess I want revenge for the bear that almost killed me."

"Emmett," I said softly. "Do you know who her mate is? I have a feeling she knows."

"She knows," Emmett confessed.

"Why isn't she with him?" I asked.

"It's complicated Bells," he said. He was hiding something. "Her mate isn't ready and she's giving her space until they can be together."

"Rose said true mates can't be apart though." I'm even more confused now than I was before.

"Rose is right," Emmett agreed. "She stays close enough to her mate so it doesn't hurt but keeps a far enough distance so can get ready on their own."

"She should be with her mate," I said as Emmett opened his door.

"Everything will be fine," Emmett assured me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. We walked inside and Emmett led me straight to where the Xbox's were kept. "Wait here," he instructed as he went to find an employee to unlock the area that held the game systems.

I looked through the games. I didn't want to force Emmett to wait for me and I knew I had to pick a game. Finally I settled on Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. It looked easy and kind of fun. "You found a game," Emmett said cheerfully.

"Yeah," I said holding it up. His smile dropped a bit, guess it wasn't the game he expected.

"Hello," the salesman said smiling at me. He seemed kind of creepy and Emmett glared at him and directed his attention to the Xbox's. The salesman got it out for him and Emmett went to the games, grabbing game after game off the shelf and stacking it on top of the system. "So are you single?"

Before I could answer Emmett was in front of me and in his face. "That is my sister you are talking to and she will not date you," he said in a low voice. The salesman backed away, his natural human instinct telling him to stay away.

"Y-yes sir," he squeaked. "Will you be needing anything else?"

"As a matter of fact yes," Emmett said. "I need a laptop." My eyes widened.

"Emmett, don't…"

"Do you really want to finish that statement," Emmett asked grinning. "Cause if so you better pick out another game."

I groaned but didn't say anything. I stayed with the stuff while the salesman led Emmett to the laptops. It didn't take long for Emmett to pick out my laptop. It seemed to be pretty big. "Carry this for me," he whispered handing me the laptop. "It will look weird if I carry everything." I took the computer and struggled a bit under the weight.

Checkout was quick and my eyes bugged out at the cost. He spent close to two grand on all of the merchandise, seemed like overkill to me but I kept my mouth shut. Emmett pushed the cart to the car and loaded it up. "Want to go for a walk?" Emmett asked. I nodded.

"Is it a good idea to leave the stuff?" I asked.

"Don't worry Bella," he said. "I'll be able to hear if anyone tries to steal it. That and the car alarm will alert half the city. I'm sure even Rose will hear it." I shrugged and followed him down the street.

"How are you taking the news about Edward?" Emmett asked.

"What news?" I asked confused.

"That fact that he's not your mate," Emmett clarified.

"Oh," I said. "I'm okay. I know he loves me, or I think he loves me, even if he did leave. I bet he didn't say anything because he didn't want to lose me." Emmett stopped and turned to face me, giving a very strange look, but he didn't say anything.

"Do you want ice cream?" Emmett asked. "I heard humans like to get ice cream."

"Sure," I said. He had already spent hundreds of dollars on me, what was another four dollars. We walked to small ice cream shop and Emmett offered to buy the ice cream while I waited outside.

"Hey," some guy said from behind me. I turned to see the salesman from Best Buy.

"Can I help you?" I asked, trying to hide how scared I was feeling. Emmett where are you?

"I thought maybe we could talk," he said. He stepped closer to me and I felt something hard and cold press against my back. "Walk towards the alley," he whispered. I did what he said. One wrong move and I would be dead.

As I walked toward the alley I couldn't help but think Edward would be proud of me for finally having a normal human reaction. "How does it feel knowing your brother isn't here to save you?" the man asked.

"Let me go," I begged. "I'll go out with you if that's what you want just please don't hurt me." It wasn't that I didn't want him to hurt me. I just didn't want to bleed and make Emmett lose control.

"No," he said. "I don't want that anymore. Now I want to teach you a lesson. Get down now."

I shook my head and the blade pressed deeper. I could feel blood trickling down my back. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to leave Charlie like this. It would kill him. There was a gust of wind and I no longer felt the blade against me, instead I felt the wall.

"Don't touch her again," Rosalie snarled. She was crouched down in front of me. I opened my eyes and looked up and Emmett was standing at the entry to the alleyway with an ice cream cone.

"I'm sorry Bella," Emmett said. "I didn't hear him."

"Who the fuck are you?" the man asked glaring at Rosalie.

"I'm your worst nightmare," Rosalie snarled. I could tell by her tone that her eyes were pitch black.

"That's the guy from Best Buy that was hitting on Bella," Emmett said glaring at him. "I told you to stay away from her."

The guy was obviously not smart. He charged Rosalie and tried to stab her in the heart. I opened my mouth to scream but was cut off by Emmett hand. "She won't be hurt," he whispered. I glanced at his face and his eyes were black. I tried to pull away but he held me against him. The ice cream was forgotten on the ground at the alleyway entrance. "It's fine. I won't hurt you. We can get you cleaned up in a bit. Are you in pain?"

Now that he mentioned it my back was killing me but I just shook my head. "You are a horrible liar Bella," Emmett said.

"Should we stop her?" I asked. Again I tried to move but Emmett held on too tight.

"No," Emmett said firmly. "When a vampire is like this you leave them alone unless you want them to rip you apart."

"Is she going to kill him?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," Emmett answered. "Don't look, I doubt she will spill his blood but you shouldn't watch."

I did what he said, burying my face in his chest but it didn't stop the fact that I could hear her. "How dare you try to attack her," Rosalie said. Her voice was low so she didn't alert the other humans but it sounded dangerous.

He mumbled something I couldn't hear but it was enough to piss Rosalie off. "Rose," Emmett called softly. Whatever her plan was must have changed because I heard something snap and the guy never spoke again. I'm assuming she broke his neck. "I'll take care of the body and take your car home."

Seconds later I was out of Emmett's arms and into Rosalie's. "I will take you back to my place," she said softly. All hint of her anger was gone.

"How did you know?" I wondered.

"Alice called me, said you were in danger and I needed to get to you," Rosalie answered. "I'll take care of your back when we get to my apartment."

I hid my face in her shoulder. "I'm sorry if I scared you," she muttered softly. I could feel her stroking my hair as she ran.

"I'm okay," I assured her. She growled and I knew she didn't believe me. "Are you going to tell Carlisle you killed someone?"

"No," she said. I could tell we were no longer running. We must have gotten to her apartment. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Why did you do that? You could have left him alive." She gently laid me on my back and I could feel her ripping my shirt open. There was no answer for a second and I figured she left the room.

"What I hate the most in this world is when a man tries to force himself on a woman," Rosalie said. She sat a first aid kit next to me and poured rubbing alcohol onto a cotton pad and was rubbing it on my back. I winced at the feel. "Alice told me what he was going to do. I had to stop him from doing that to you, or any other girl."

"You don't have to make yourself uncomfortable," I whispered. My hands were tightly gripping the sheets in pain.

"I'm not uncomfortable," Rosalie said. "Emmett mentioned you know nothing about my past. I guess I should explain that so you can understand why I did what I did." I felt a towel drying my skin before a bandage was placed over the wound. She left the room again and handed me a shirt.

I sat up and pulled the shirt on. Rose cleaned everything up as I got dressed and was back and sitting on the bed by the time I finished. "Do you need some medication?" she asked. I shook my head and scooted back so I was resting against her. I could feel the coolness of her body through both of our clothes and it made me feel better.

"I was born in 1915 in New York," Rosalie started. "I was vain, self-centered, beautiful, and…" I giggled against her. "Yeah a lot would say I'm still like that. I was engaged to a man, Royce King II. I envied people. They found love and had kids. It was everything I wanted and I was happy I was finally getting my happy ending." Her voice got hard.

"I was walking home one night after visiting my friend and her baby. I notice Royce was with his friends and they were all drinking. It was strange to me considering Royce didn't drink much. I went over to them and…" Her voice broke and I turned around, with some difficulty, and hugged her. She immediately wrapped her arms around me.

"They hurt you," I whispered. She nodded.

"They took turns with me and when they finished they were laughing. I remember one of the men saying Royce would need to find a new bride," Rosalie whispered.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled against her.

"It's not your fault," she said stroking my hair. She shifted me slightly so she could check her watch. "I should get you home."

"Okay," I said.

Her car was in the parking lot when we left. "Where is Emmett?" I asked confused.

"He's giving us some space," Rosalie answered.

"Oh," I said.

"He feels bad for what happened," Rose said. Her hands were clenched. She obviously wasn't happy about what happened.

"It's not his fault," I said.

"I'll make sure he knows that," Rose promised.

Much sooner than I would have liked I ended up back at home. It was dark when we got there but it still wasn't that late. I planned on going to bed early anyway. Charlie's car was gone and I remembered him saying he had to work late tonight. I got out of the car and saw Rose wasn't moving. "Rose," I said softly. "Can you stay with me tonight?"

She smiled at me and nodded. "I'll park my car at the Cullen house and I'll be back in ten minutes," she said.

I went inside as she drove away. I sped up my nightly routine so she didn't get bored and leave. No matter how fast I tried to go she still beat me to my room. "How's your back?" Rosalie asked.

"Sore," I replied. She patted the spot next to her and I crawled into bed.

"Do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?" she asked. If I wasn't mistaken she seemed really eager.

I shook my head. "I'm going to Jacob's tomorrow after school," I told her. "Charlie is going to be there for dinner and I agreed to help out."

"Alright," she said as I yawned. "Go to sleep Bella." I snuggled against her body and drifted off to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Crazy Heart 101- Bella doesn't have feelings for Rosalie, yet, because she is still very much in love with Edward and despite everything she still thinks they will be together. Her feelings for Rose and views on Edward are slowly changing. Bella is only human after all and she falls in love like a normal human.

This chapter is still in Bella's POV but it's important. Next chapter will be back to Rosalie's POV.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

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><p>Bella POV<p>

"No, Rose, no leave her alone, please don't hurt her," I mumbled, tossing and turning in my bed. "No," I screamed shooting up in my bed. Tears were falling down my face and sweat covered my body.

"Bella it's alright," Rosalie's soft voice called. She gently stroked my hair and wiped away my tears for a few seconds until she was gone.

"Rose," I whispered. There was no reply. Instead there was a knock on my door.

"Bells," Charlie's voice called sleepily. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Dad," I tried to assure him. "Sorry I woke you up." Thankfully he didn't push it and closed my door and went back to his room. He was used to the nightmares by now. I felt bad for keeping him up so many nights.

"Sorry," Rosalie said coming back to my bed. "I heard him coming and didn't have time to tell you."

I scooted over, hoping she realized that was an invitation. She did and she climbed onto the bed next to me. I leaned against her cool body. It was comforting after my dream. Her cool body soothed the pain in my back. "Do you want to tell me what your dream was about?" she whispered. She was playing with my hair.

"It was nothing," I said quickly.

I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "You're lying Bella," she said softly. "You kept calling my name."

"I… I had a nightmare about you. You were human and they were beating you, kicking you in the stomach, r…ra…raping you. There was blood everywhere and you were crying. I begged them to stop but they didn't." She stiffened and tears fell down my face again. It didn't take long for her to recover and start wiping away the tears.

"Shh, Bella it's okay, I'm right here," she whispered.

"That wasn't all," I said. "The dream shifted at the end. There was only one person hurting you and you were a vampire. I called to you and the man looked up. It was Edward. He was killing you."

"Shh," Rosalie whispered again. She started rocking me in her arms. "I'm alright Bella. He's not going to hurt me. No one is going to hurt me."

"But they already did," I whimpered against her chest. Her arms tightened around my body.

"I'm okay Bella," she assured me. "I'm here."

"How can you be sure he won't come after you for not doing what he said," I asked. My dream had me so shaken I actually believed Edward was capable of hurting Rosalie.

"Even if he wanted to hurt me he couldn't," Rosalie said as if she knew what I was thinking. I looked into her hypnotic butterscotch eyes. There was something about them that pulled me in, that made me want to be closer to her. Did I really just think that? I shook my head hoping to clear my thoughts. "I spent years training with Emmett after he was changed. I refused to be in a position where I let someone, hurt me like that."

"You fought with Emmett?" I asked in horror. He could hurt her so easily. It was like Alice fighting Jasper.

"Not real fighting Bella," Rosalie said softly. "After Jasper and Alice joined the family I started practicing with them. I got to where I can take down Emmett half of the time and I can easily beat Edward if I don't think about my moves. Alice and Jasper I still can't beat but I'm getting closer with Jasper. He just has too much practice and Alice cheats with her gift."

"Jasper has practice fighting?" I questioned confused. Rosalie looked guilty.

"It's not my place to talk about his past," she said softly. "Jasper and Alice want to meet us at my apartment next weekend if you agree. You can ask him then."

"They want to see me?" I asked excited. I missed my best friend and Jasper. I hoped this time Jasper and I could be closer. It seemed like he was never really included in the family last time I saw him.

"Yes," she replied. "From what I've heard Jasper is preparing a speech and some gifts in hopes of you forgiving him while Alice wants to shop."

"No presents," I said trying to be firm. "And I already forgive him. He did nothing wrong."

"Bella," she sighed. "While I agree he deserves forgiveness you can't deny he tried to bite you. I love Jasper, he's my brother but he did snap at you."

"Rose," I said softly. "Is bloodlust an emotion?" This had been bothering me since my horrible birthday party. There was something in Jasper's eyes right after the paper cut that made me believe he didn't lose control right away.

Rosalie looked surprised at the question. "I don't know, why?"

"There was something about Jasper that night," I started. I could feel Rosalie tensing up at the mention of my birthday party. I wondered why she was so upset about it. "He seemed in control when I got that paper cut. If I'm not mistaken he was going to help me until I was thrown into the plates." Rosalie growled. "It was then that he lost control. What if he felt the bloodlust from seven vampires, including himself? What if he isn't as weak as everyone thinks he is?"

"Five vampires," Rosalie corrected. "Carlisle's bloodlust is so minimal I doubt it would register and I have no desire for your blood."

"Emmett mentioned that," I commented. "How is it you don't have a desire for my blood? I thought all vampires craved human blood."

"They do," Rosalie said. "I've never tasted human blood. I suppose my self-control has helped me in resisting your blood." For some reason I wasn't convinced but I let it go for now. "I'm sure Jasper will be happy to hear this and if I know Alice then she's already seen it and is using it to help him now."

"Can I ask you something?" I asked after a spending several minutes debating on whether or not I should ask this question. I spent another couple minutes wondering if Rosalie was the right person to ask but the more time I spent with her the more I trusted her.

She turned my head so I was looking into her eyes, making me forget how to breathe. "You can ask me anything Bella," she whispered. I could feel her cool breathe on my face and the smell was intoxicating. I unconsciously leaned forward until my lips were an inch from hers.

My eyes widened when I realized what I almost did. "Sorry," I mumbled pulling away. I could have sworn I detected a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "Well you know how Alice always said she had a vision of me becoming one of you?" I asked getting back to the point.

Rosalie nodded. Her eyes were darker and I knew she didn't like the direction this conversation was going. "I was wondering if she still saw that," I said, speaking quieter now. If she wasn't a vampire she wouldn't be able to hear me. I glanced at her face and thought that maybe I shouldn't have asked.

"You still want to be a vampire," she said slowly. I nodded, afraid if I said anything she would snap at me. "Why?"

"You, Emmett, Alice, Jasper and the rest of the Cullens are my family," I said. Her face lit up. How strange. "I want to be with my family." I didn't mention him because Rosalie always got angry when he was brought up.

"Do you realize what you are asking for?" Rosalie asked harshly causing me to flinch. There was a hint of a plea in her tone as if she were begging me to see reason.

"I know what I would be giving up," I answered. Rosalie shook her head.

"I don't think you really do," Rosalie said. Her voice was softer now than it was before but she was still upset. "You lose so much. You will never have kids, grandkids. You will never grow old. You will watch your parents die but you can't see them, or be at there for them."

"This is my life though," I argued. "Shouldn't I have a say in how I live it? I love my parents more than anything but with Renee I was the parent and Charlie doesn't know me that well. I want to be me."

Rosalie sighed. "If this is the life you truly want then I won't stop you but this conversation can wait until graduation. There is no way I would let you be changed before then. I want you to have every human experience you can." I wanted so badly to ask again why she cared so much but I couldn't. Part of me thought she would never answer the question, while the other part was afraid of the answer.

"Can I make a request?" I nodded. "If you do decide to be changed, let me do it." My jaw dropped. Of all the things she could have asked I wasn't expecting that. Why would she want to change me? When she saw I made no attempt to speak she continued, "Carlisle has the best control but he will never go against Edward's wishes so he won't change you. I have the best control after Carlisle, at least when it comes to your blood."

"I…" I couldn't form sentences.

"You don't have to make a decision now Bella," she whispered. "You have plenty of time but please consider it." I nodded. "Is there something else you were wondering?"

"How did you know?" I asked once I was able to speak again.

"I can see it in your eyes," Rosalie laughed. "You have this look whenever you want to ask something but are afraid to. Talk Isabella." Rosalie calling me by my full name sent shivers down my spine and for the first time in my life I actually liked the sound of my name.

"Would Ed…Edward have ever changed me or is there still a chance he will?" I asked quietly.

"No," she replied confidently. I looked down trying to keep the tears at bay. Rosalie gently cupped my face and I looked into her butterscotch eyes again. "It's not you Bella. It's," she hesitated, "he can't change you and he knows that."

"You mean my blood is too strong?" I wondered. It made sense. He didn't want to change me because he was afraid of killing me. She shook her head.

"No, what has he told you when you asked him?"

"He said he wouldn't damn me for eternity and he wanted to protect my soul," I quoted. Rosalie growled and muttered something under her breath that sounded a lot like bastard.

"What did he tell you when he left?" Rosalie asked suddenly.

I took a deep breath. I didn't want to tell her. "I thought you were there," I said trying to stall.

"I didn't see or hear anything other than you curled up on the ground muttering 'He's gone'. What did he say Bella?"

I sighed. "He said he didn't love me anymore and I was just a distraction. He said I wasn't good for him and he didn't want me," I said.

The growling got louder and the next thing I knew Rosalie was on the other side of my room. My bed felt weird without her. "I am going to kill that bastard," she said in a low voice. She sounded so calm it scared me.

"Rose," I said softly hoping to calm her. It didn't work. Instead she started pacing back and forth muttering things under her breath that were too quiet for me to hear. I climbed out of bed, wincing at the pain in my back, and went to Rosalie. "Rose," I said again standing in front of her. Her eyes snapped to me and they were black.

"You are the strangest human I have ever met," she muttered, touching my cheek. I rolled my eyes. I've heard that one before. "Sometimes I wonder if you have a death wish. Walking up to an angry vampire is never a smart idea."

"I know your angry though I'm not entirely sure why," I said. "But you need to calm down. He's your brother. I know you don't want to hurt him."

She snorted and led me back to my bed. Once we were situated again she spoke, "He can't change you because then you would know he isn't your mate." I looked up at her, waiting for her to continue. "One look is all it takes for a vampire to find their mate. One look at him when you are a vampire and you would know the two of you aren't meant to be and he knows that."

"Emmett mentioned something about you guys," I said swallowing hard. It was something else I wanted to know, something I wanted to ask Emmett but I didn't get the chance.

Her arms tightened around me. "What was that?"

"He said the first, well only time, the two of you tried to… to have sex," I blushed at the words, "you threw him through a wall and into a tree."

"That's true," Rosalie admitted. "Ever since I was changed I've had… issues, I guess you could say, with men. I can't stand men hurting women, which is why I reacted so strongly yesterday." I shuddered at the reminder of Rosalie killing that man. "I don't like men getting too close to me. Emmett will always be my close friend but I could never give myself to him in that way. I did feel bad about that after it happened and I realized what I had done."

"What about your mate?" I asked. Her eyes widened. "Emmett told me you found your mate but if you can't be close to men then how will you be able to be with him?"

"Bella," she said softly. "My mate isn't a man." Well I sure as hell wasn't expecting that to happen.

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><p>Before I get messages about Rosalie agreeing with Bella being changed I wanted to explain. Rosalie loves Bella and doesn't want to lose her. No matter how much she hates her life she would rather have her mate for eternity and she is giving Bella the choice, because unlike Edward she won't control Bella's actions.<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts!

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><p>Rosalie POV<p>

"Rose, what the hell were you thinking?" Emmett demanded.

I sighed. I had hoped if I waited long enough to come back to my apartment Emmett would have forgotten he was angry at me. It was stupid to think he wasn't angry at me still. His memory was perfect so he would never forget what I did in front of Bella. Thankfully he convinced her to look away. Somewhere in the back of my mind I was convinced she would be too stubborn to listen to him.

In reality I wasn't thinking after I got that call from Alice. The only thought that went through my mind was get to my Bella, save my Bella. I refused to watch Bella go through was I did when I was changed. I didn't want her to know the pain of men beating and violating her. I would kill anyone who tried.

"I was thinking Alice called me and told me what she saw," I said trying to keep the anger out of my voice. I wasn't mad at him, all he did was try to get Bella ice cream, but that vision, though I didn't see it, would be forever etched into my mind. "I wasn't going to lose her."

The anger melted away from Emmett and all that remained was pain. "What do you mean you weren't going to lose her?" Emmett asked softly.

"Alice's vision," I started, sitting down on the couch. "She told me what it was and it wasn't good. I just acted Emmett."

"What was her vision about?" Emmett asked. I shook my head. I didn't want to repeat that. "Tell me Rosalie," he demanded.

"In Alice's vision that piece of filth," I snarled at the reminder of him, "raped and killed Bella before either of us could do anything." Emmett's eyes widened. "I tried to change her but it was too late. You found her and called me and I was furious. You begged me to kill you for failing to protect her and because I was so angry I did it without blinking."

Emmett looked devastated but not because I killed him in this vision. He was devastated because he felt like he let her down. "Go on," he said.

"I ran off to the Volturi," I continued. His eyes widened. "Since I don't have a gift they were more than happy to kill me, especially after what they saw in my thoughts. I'm not entirely sure what he saw but I have a feeling I was threatening to go murdering humans in the town. Alice and Jasper found out what happened and Jasper ran off to fight the Volturi even though he knew he wouldn't win. Alice, being his mate, followed him and then it went black."

Emmett stared at me with his mouth open in shock. He knew I hated this life but he never expected me to run to the Volturi and beg for death. In my first year as a vampire I planned my death many times and every single time I simply planned on walking through a fire. "You can be pissed off at me," I said, giving Emmett more time than necessary to process my words. "But I did what I did for Bella, you, Alice and Jasper. Because I wouldn't never forgive myself if anything happened to my brothers and sister and I can't lose my mate. And you know what? I would do it again, every fucking time." My life meant very little in comparison to Bella's.

"Rose," he said. "I didn't know. I knew you were angry and I knew why you did it but I didn't realize Alice's vision was your main motivation."

"Emmett I love you," I said honestly. "You're my best friend and you always will be but Bella is my priority and she always will be. I would kill every single person on this planet if it meant she was safe." I would kill him if I had to and he knew that. It was no different than what Jasper, Carlisle and Peter would do for Alice, Esme and Charlotte.

He nodded, got up and wrapped his arms around me. "I know," he whispered.

"The body?" I wondered. I could care less if that piece of trash rotted in the alleyway but I knew we had to take care of it.

"Taken care of," he answered. "I took it to the woods and tore it apart. If anyone finds it the cops will assume it was an animal attack."

"Thanks," I said. I got up and grabbed a few containers of blood from the cabinet. I didn't feel like hunting but after the night I had I could use the blood.

"How did it go with Bella last night?" he wondered, accepting the cup of blood.

I closed my eyes, desperately trying to will the sounds of Bella's screams away. It wasn't working. "She woke up in the middle of the night screaming my name," I admitted, half expecting him to come up with some crude joke.

"She didn't take your story well," he commented. Deep down I knew he was still pissed about my past. He wanted to kill those bastards himself but I had beaten him to it.

"No she didn't," I said sadly. "She was yelling in her sleep, begging them not to hurt me." His eyes were hard. "That's not all though. Do you remember when Edward told us about Bella's dream? Back when she first found out about us."

"He mentioned she had a dream about him and Jacob Black," Emmett said thoughtfully. "Didn't she say Jacob turned into a dog in the dream?"

"A wolf but yes," I said. "Bella said in her dream that the scene shifted. I was a vampire and only one person was trying to kill me." I looked at him. "It was Edward. What if this is her power or something?"

"You think she can have visions like Alice?"

I shook my head. "You know no two gifts are the same," I reminded him. "But it's not that. It's I don't know…"

"What if it's her subconscious processing things," Emmett suggested. "Think about it, she learned all these weird things about us and the stories Jacob told her. What if her dreams are her minds way of processing new information?"

"That may be true," I said thinking about it. We already knew her mind was different, with Edward not being able to read it and how she reacts around us. Images of Bella almost kissing me flooded my mind I wanted so bad for her to do it but it wasn't time yet.

"You said Bella dreamed about Edward killing you." I flinched. Bella shouldn't have seen that, even if it was only a dream. I knew I could take him and I also knew I wouldn't be alone in that fight but I didn't want Bella worrying. A part of me wondered if Edward would try to kill me for 'stealing' Bella from him.

"Maybe she is figuring it out," he said. "She is very perceptive. I wouldn't be surprised if she is putting the pieces together." I frowned.

"I told her my mate was female," I confessed.

"How did she take that news?" he questioned. He was giddy at the thought of us finally being together. I'm betting he wanted to make jokes and embarrass her.

"She just stared at me," I said looking down. I would never admit it out loud but her reaction hurt. "She didn't say anything, just stared, and then she fell asleep again."

"Rose," Emmett sighed. I knew what was coming. He was going to appeal to my common sense. Sometimes he was so wise it frightened me. The kid act was just that, an act. He liked being the family goof but he knew when to be serious. "It was like two in the morning. She hasn't been sleeping well for a few months now. She was tired. Just talk to her later and see how she feels about it."

"You're right," I said running a hand through my long blonde hair. "I hate it when you're right." He laughed.

"So what's the plan for the day?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Bella is at school and will be going to see Jacob after school," I told him.

"You're letting Bella see the puppy?" Emmett asked surprised. He chuckled at his joke.

"I am not Edward," I snarled. "And he hasn't phased yet so she is safe."

"Whoa calm down Rose," Emmett said holding up his hands. "I was kidding but do you really think she is safe there?"

"He hasn't phased," I repeated. "Until he does, or if he does, we have nothing to worry about. Even if he does phase, I don't think he would ever hurt her. They have been friends since they were kids."

"Wow you really do listen to everything she says," Emmett laughed. I growled and threw a pillow at him. He caught it with ease and sat it back down. "Do you want to play Xbox with me?"

"Hell no," I said. I hated that damn game system. "I think I'm going to go run before I go to Bella's and talk to her." He nodded and turned on the Xbox. I was out the door before he could get his disk in.

I spent three hours running around the woods and running back and forth between Port Angeles and Forks. I caught the scent of a vampire. I swear I should recognize that scent but for the life of me I couldn't. It wasn't anyone in the family, or Edward.

Maybe it was Peter or Charlotte looking for Jasper. No, that couldn't be it. Jasper told them we were leaving.

The Volturi? No, Alice would have seen if they were coming here and they have no reason to be here unless someone told them about Bella. Edward may hate me and hate that Bella is my mate but he would never give her to the Volturi, would he?

I reached for my phone. I was almost to the Cullen house where I left my car. I was going to drive to Bella's house and talk to her about last night. Hopefully she doesn't hate me. Before I could grab my phone it started ringing. I checked the caller ID and saw it was Alice. "Hi Alice," I said answering the phone.

"_Hi Rose_," she said in her usual chipper voice. "_I saw you were about to call me but I'm not sure why_." I could practically hear her frowning. She hated not knowing what was going on. It was annoying when she knew everything but she was working on it.

"I can smell a vampire near the house and all around the woods," I told her. I climbed into my car and drove slowly toward Bella's house. I wanted to finish my conversation before I got there. I wasn't planning on telling Bella about the vampire until I got more information. Not because I didn't think she could handle it but because I didn't know enough to tell her. What's the point in telling her if I can't even tell her who it is or what they want?

"_Who is it_?" Alice asked.

"That's the thing," I said frustrated. "I feel like I should know the scent but I can't place it. Do you think it's the Volturi?"

"_I doubt it_," Alice said after a short pause. "_But I'll watch out for them and I'll watch Bella more closely just in case_."

I sighed in relief. "Thanks Alice," I said.

"_Anytime Rose_," she said honestly. "_It will all work out_," she added before hanging up. I frowned. What did she mean by that? Would Bella and I be together?

I pulled my car along the curb and jumped out. Bella's truck wasn't in the driveway so I decided to sit on the porch until she showed up. I was lost in thought about what Alice said and didn't notice the door open. "Hello," a male called.

I turned around and saw Chief Swan looking at me. Damn I was slipping. I should have known he was there or still at home. I hoped Bella had a chance to talk to him about me. "Hi Chief Swan," I said smiling at me. "I'm sorry to bother you but I was waiting for Bella."

"You're Dr. Cullen's daughter aren't you? Rosaline?" he asked. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Rosaline, really? That was the best he could come up with.

"Yes sir, Rosalie Hale," I said and his eyes narrowed. Ah fuck me, Bella didn't get a chance to talk to him yet.

"Do you have any idea what your family did to her?" he yelled. I flinched. I did know what we did to her. What I did to her and he would never understand how much I hate myself for that.

"Chief Swan, can we go inside and talk?" I asked politely. "You can yell at me all you want but I don't think you want the neighbors hearing."

He thought about it for a moment before stepping back inside the house and holding the door open for me. "I understand how angry you are but I never wanted to leave Bella. Our parents made us leave because of Edward."

Charlie glared at the mention of Edward. It was clear to me that Bella's father couldn't stand my brother, not that I blamed him. "Why are you here?"

"I saw Bella after he left her," I sad avoiding the question. What was I supposed to tell him? She's my mate and I want to be near her. Charlie's a good dad and all but even he wouldn't understand that. "She was distraught and…" he cut me off before I could continue.

"You knew what she was like?" he asked angry. The vein in his forehead was sticking out and I had to swallow back the venom. I would never bite him but I couldn't deny his blood was tempting. So much like Bella's yet so different.

"I found her in the woods after he dumped her," I said. He had every right to be angry at me but I wouldn't let him assume I purposely let her suffer. His eyes darkened in anger. Shit, he didn't know about the woods.

"I found her in bed that night," Charlie mumbled.

"She was curled up on the forest floor when I found her," I told him. I wasn't helping his feelings towards Edward but in this moment it didn't matter. Edward could jump into a fire for all I cared. "I called my brother Emmett and he rushed over and carried her inside. I cleaned her up and promised to come back."

His nostrils flared and he looked like he was ready to punch me. "Why did it take you two months to come back?" he demanded.

"I couldn't come," I said sadly. "My parents forbade us to make contact with Bella. We, Alice, Emmett and I fought them about it but they wouldn't listen."

"How did you manage to get here now?" he wondered.

"Carlisle and Esme went on a trip for the hospital and I just left," I replied. I was happy I could still tell the truth and not put him in danger. It made it easier since Bella was a horrible liar.

"Why are you here and not Alice or Emmett? Bella told me you didn't like her," Charlie asked and I flinched. He didn't want me here. I looked down, thankful for the first time that I was a vampire so I wouldn't start crying.

"You love her," he realized, carefully studying my face. Even he couldn't react like a normal human. My eyes widened as I looked up at him. How the hell did he know that? Obviously Bella got her observation skills from her dad.

"I… yes," I admitted. What else could I say?

"Does she know?" he asked sighing. I shook my head and he left to room to get a beer. Seconds later he was back with his beer and sitting on the couch. He motioned for me to sit down.

"I want her to get better first," I told him. "I can't tell her if she is still hung up over my brother."

"She's happier now," he commented. "She is smiling more and going out. I thought it was because of Jacob but maybe it's because of you." I couldn't help the smile forming. "You're good for her. I won't tell her, I'll let you do that, just help my baby girl get better."

"Of course Chief Swan," I said honestly. "I will do everything I can to help her."

"Call me Charlie," he said. "Can I get you a drink?" Saved by Bella, I thought as I heard her truck pull up. "Bella's home." I was happy Bella had a father like Charlie. I could hear how happy he was she was home though I knew he wouldn't be happy if he knew what she was doing.

We stayed on the couch as Bella came inside the house. I could hear Bella hanging her coat up and sticking her keys on the entry table. I rolled my eyes. I hate that damn truck. "Hi Dad, sorry I'm la…" she stopped when she saw me. "Rosalie," she squeaked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you," I said. "Your dad let me in."

She looked at her dad, then me, then towards the kitchen and finally the stairs. It was as if she was trying to make up her mind. "Go on upstairs with Rosalie," Charlie said. I made a note to buy him something really nice for Christmas. "I'll order pizza for dinner. Rosalie care to join us?"

"Thanks Charlie but I'm meeting Emmett for dinner," I said smiling at him. He nodded and turned the TV on.

Once Charlie was distracted by the TV Bella led me upstairs. "I'm sorry Bella," I said quickly. "I didn't realize he was here. I was going to wait for you."

"How did you not know he was here?" she asked, clearly surprised that was possible.

"I was a bit distracted," I admitted.

"What did you want to talk about?" Bella asked shutting her bedroom door. I sat on her desk chair, wanting to give her some space.

"Last night," I said and Bella blushed.

"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you after you confessed something so personal," she apologized.

"It's alright Bella," I assured her. "It was after two in the morning and you had a long day."

"Can I ask you about your mate?" she asked me. Stay calm Rosalie, stay calm.

"I'll make you a deal," I said. It worked for Emmett and Bella, maybe it would work for us too. "I'll let you ask some questions about her if you promise not to ask who she is."

Bella thought about it for a second before nodding. "Do I know her?" was her first question. That wasn't too horrible. Based on what Emmett told her she's probably figured her mate lives in Forks and everyone knew everyone here in Forks so it wasn't much of a stretch.

"Yes," I said simply.

"Does she or did she go to Forks High?" she questioned. I nodded. This was starting to get dangerous. "It's not Alice is it?" My jaw dropped.

"It is most definitely not Alice," I said shuddering at the thought. She was my sister in all but blood. "She has a mate remember?"

"Oh," Bella said. "It's hard to tell anymore. I mean I always thought you and Emmett were meant to be together forever."

"I wanted to tell you sooner that we weren't together but Carlisle and Edward didn't want me to say anything," I said, noticing she wasn't flinching as bad.

"Is it Lauren?" she asked softly. I frowned. Why would—of course, Lauren hated Bella and Bella knew that if Lauren was my mate I would always side with her.

"No it is not Lauren," I told her and she sighed in relief.

The pizza man was down the road and I knew it was time for me to leave even though I didn't want to. "I have to go," I told her. She looked sad for a moment but quickly hid it.

"Will you come back later?"

"Do you want me to?" I asked. She nodded. "Then I will be back after I hunt."

Sure enough a few hours later, once I was sure Charlie wouldn't disturb her, I was back in Bella's room. She scooted over when she saw me and I took that as my cue to climb onto the bed. She rested her head on my shoulder and I ran my fingers through her wet hair. She must have taken a shower right before I got here.

"Rose," she mumbled sleepily. She was fast asleep before she could say anything else. I gently kissed her forehead and closed my eyes, listening to her breathing and her heart beat, my two favorite sounds.


	11. Chapter 11

_First off let me say I am so sorry this took so long. I didn't realize how long it had been until someone messaged me._

_CatchingStar- It was exagerated a bit, but it was mostly Rosalie that exagerated. Alice only told her the beginning of the vision because it went black after. Rosalie filled in the blanks herself._

Bella POV

"Bella wake up," Rosalie called. I groaned and rolled over. "Bella," she tried again. I pulled my pillow over my head to block the noise. "Isabella." That caught my attention and I sat up. I don't understand how I can hate everyone calling me Isabella but if Rosalie does it my body feels like Jell-O and my heart beats faster. I didn't even like Edward calling me Isabella, though Edward usually did it when he was upset about something.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"A little after 9am," Rosalie replied.

"Charlie?" I asked.

"Fishing," she answered. "Come on, get up. Alice and Jasper are coming today."

I jumped out of bed, my foot getting caught in my blankets in the process. Rosalie caught me and pulled me up. I looked at her gold eyes, my mind went blank, and all I could think about was her staring at me. She quickly pulled away and I instantly missed her touch. "Sorry," she said. "Why don't you get ready while I make you some breakfast?"

"Alright," I agreed. I was starting to get used to Rosalie cooking for me and I had to admit I liked it.

I took my time in the shower. The hot water was refreshing and it took me a few minutes to realize I was cold in my room. It wasn't Rosalie's body temperature that made me cold it was something else. I started coughing so much I was having trouble breathing. Maybe I was getting sick.

Rosalie was standing outside the bathroom door when I opened it. "I heard you coughing," she said. She was holding a cough drop in her hand. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I tried to assure her. She frowned. Her hand shot up but stopped when it was halfway up, almost as if she were going to feel my forehead but decided against it.

She looked at me, probably trying to figure out if I'm lying. I did my best to keep my face blank. Nothing was going to stop me from seeing Alice and Jasper today. I missed them both more than I thought. "Breakfast is ready," Rosalie said pulling me from my thoughts.

"Thanks," I said gratefully. I was hungry. We walked downstairs and I sat down at the table. Rosalie placed a plate in front of me, bacon, eggs and pancakes. I'm pretty sure she was trying to make me fat since this was twice as much food as a normal human would eat. "Rose," I said glancing up from my plate.

She looked at me. She was always nice when it came to me eating. She tried not to stare, unlike Edward who always studied me when I ate. When I was with him I felt like a lab experiment. "Next time you cook and you try making a little less food?" I asked biting my lip. I hoped I didn't insult her. I was grateful for her cooking but I don't want to waste the food.

To my surprise and pleasure Rosalie simply laughed. "I will try," she promised. "Was that all that was bothering you?"

"Yes," I said embarrassed. She must have figured I was really upset or something.

"It's alright Bella," she said patting my hand. "I'm not mad but if you don't hurry there will be a different vampire that will be mad at you."

I shuddered. The last thing I want was to make Alice mad. She may be tiny but she was scary when angry. I ate as quickly as I could and once I was finished Rosalie cleaned the dishes while I put my shoes on.

We were both done at the same time, being a vampire certainly had its perks. "Where are we meeting them?" I asked.

"My apartment," Rosalie answered. "I can cook lunch for you if you want or we can go out somewhere later on."

"Whichever is more convenient," I said. I heard Rosalie sigh. She was trying to get me to think of my own needs first. So far it wasn't going as well as she would like.

She held the car door open for me. She was in the driver's seat by the time I managed to sit down. "I should warn you," Rosalie said. "Alice is very excited to see you, which means Jasper is going to be a little over excited. So if your emotions feel out of control then it's most likely him."

"Thanks for warning me," I said. I pulled my jacket tighter. Rosalie noticed and turned the heat up.

"Are you sure you're alright? You can stay at home, Alice won't be mad," Rosalie said voice laced with concern.

I snorted. The only way Alice wouldn't be upset is if I was on my deathbed and even then I'm sure she would be upset. "Bella if you're sick you shouldn't be going out," Rosalie said. I could tell she was frustrated.

"I'm not sick," I protested. I coughed again. She glanced at me, raising a perfect eyebrow. "I'm not," I said quietly. "I'm fine really."

"I don't believe you," Rosalie said. "But I won't make you miss out on seeing Alice and Jasper. So you are stuck on my couch until I say so, got it?"

"Yes mom," I said under my breath.

"I heard that," Rosalie said. I turned to look at her and saw she was glaring at me. "I'm trying to keep you out of the hospital you know."

"I know," I said. "And thanks."

"Anytime Bella," Rosalie said.

She didn't say anything for the rest of the ride but I could feel her eyes on me every so often. During the car ride I found myself comparing Rosalie and Edward. The entire time I dated Edward I was never sick but I wondered if he would take care of me like Rosalie was trying to.

I was sure he would have but he would probably be blaming himself for whatever was wrong with me. Rosalie however didn't blame herself. She knew it wasn't her fault. It just something that happens when you're human.

We climbed out of the car and slowly walked to Rosalie's apartment. "Are you nervous?" Rosalie asked.

I shrugged. "A little," I admitted. "I haven't seen them in so long and…"

"What happened is not your fault," Rosalie said firmly. "Jasper does not blame you, quite the opposite but I'll let you talk to him about that."

I nodded. I still felt guilty even if it wasn't my fault. We were both too stubborn to ever change our minds in regards to my party so it was best not to say anything more. "Are they in there?" I asked as Rosalie pulled her key out.

Rosalie laughed. "Yes they are," she said. "Jasper is having problems keeping Alice calm."

I groaned as Rosalie pushed the door open. "Bella Swan, was that a groan I heard?" Alice asked, pretending to sound upset. "I thought you would be happy to see me."

I barely made it through the doorway before I felt a cold hard body slam into me, taking my breath away. "Alice she needs to breathe," Jasper called. His southern accent was more noticeable after not talking to him for so long. Not that we talked much before my birthday.

"Sorry Bella," Alice said grinning. I looked at my best friend. She looked exactly as I remembered. Alice looked at me for a minute before turning to Rosalie. "She shouldn't be out of bed."

"Like I could force her to stay home," Rosalie said snorting. I could detect a hint of worry in her voice.

Jasper glanced between Alice, Rosalie and I. "Hello Bella," he said smiling at me.

"Hey Jasper," I replied. I carefully stepped toward him and wrapped my arms around his cool body. I smiled against his body when he hugged me back. I pulled away and looked to where Alice and Rosalie had been but they were gone. I frowned.

"They went to the Rosalie's bedroom," Jasper said in response to my confusion. "They know I want to talk to you and are giving us privacy."

"Jasper you don…" Jasper held up a hand to cut me off.

"I know what you are going to say Bella," he said. "One of the many perks of being married to Alice." He smirked at me. "But this is something I need to say, if not for you then for me."

I nodded at him and he cocked his head to the side before leading me to the couch. My guess was Rosalie told him I was couch ridden for the day. The only good part about that was Alice couldn't take me shopping. "I'm so very sorry for what happened at your birthday party," Jasper said once I was comfortable. I had a blanket covering my body and Jasper put a hand on my leg. "When you got the paper cut," I flinched but he continued, "I won't deny your blood called to me but with Alice's help, her faith in me, I resisted. When Edward threw you into the plates," I flinched again, "There was so much blood. I couldn't resist anymore and I hate myself for that."

"Jasper," I said softly, grabbing the hand that that was still on my leg. "I never blamed you. I don't know your past but both Rosalie and Edward mentioned you used to drink human blood. It is understandable that you have a hard time resisting human blood."

Jasper looked at me. "You really are the strangest human I have ever met," he said.

I sighed. "So I've heard," I replied and Jasper chuckled. "Are they still eavesdropping on us?"

"What makes you think they are eavesdropping on us?" Jasper questioned.

I shrugged. "Rosalie is always staying close to me, trying to protect me," I said. "I know there's no danger concerning you but I'm sure she would want to know how our conversation went. Alice is well Alice." Jasper laughed. "And even for vampires they are way too quiet."

I heard the bedroom door open and a few seconds later Rosalie and Alice appeared. "Sorry Bella," Alice said grinning. It was easy to figure out that she wasn't sorry at all.

I tried to get up but Jasper gently pushed me down. "You're not moving," he said softly. "We don't want you getting sicker."

"I feel fine," I tried to argue but my body betrayed me and I started coughing again. My throat burned from the coughing and I started giggling, not aware that Rosalie was offering me a cup of water.

"What's so funny?" Rosalie questioned. She forced herself between me and Jasper and gently rubbed my back while I took small sips of water.

"I was just wondering if the burning in my throat now was similar to what you guys feel all the time," I said.

Jasper and Alice chuckled but Rosalie stared at me for a minute before looking down. I know she still hated the idea of me being changed even though she wanted to change me herself. "It's very similar," Jasper answered when no one else said anything. "The main difference is the burn we feel is a lot stronger and more noticeable. Unlike the burn you feel ours never goes away."

I nodded. It was nice that Jasper was giving me information, even if it was just a little bit. "How are Esme and Carlisle?" I questioned.

"They're fine," Alice answered. "They are not happy we are here and I'm betting they will tell Edward as soon they get into contact with him but other than that they are fine."

It was still hard for me to believe Carlisle and Esme could be upset at their 'kids' for visiting me. It made me wonder if they actually cared about me. "They do love you," Jasper said after feeling my emotions. It was going to suck being around an empath again. "They don't like us being involved with Edward's mate, their wording, not ours. We've tried multiple times to explain you are not his mate but it's not working."

"Why not?" I asked Jasper.

It was Alice who answered. "They are afraid of the consequences of accepting the truth," she explained. "If they admit that they were wrong then they have to deal with the fact that they left you and forced the rest of us to go as well. I'm not sure if Esme would be able to deal with the fact that she abandoned someone she considered to be a daughter and Carlisle, well Carlisle has always favored Edward above the rest of us because Carlisle created him first. He trusts Edward more than he should and won't willingly accept that he was wrong about him."

Rosalie reached up and felt my forehead. "You feel hotter than normal," she said frowning. "Do you want some soup or something?"

"Sure," I said. I was a little hungry and soup sounded delicious.

"What kind?" Rosalie asked standing up.

"I'll make it," Jasper said standing as well. He said something else but I couldn't hear it. Whatever he had said convinced Rosalie to sit back down. "Any particular type of soup you want Bella?"

"Tomato, please," I requested and Jasper nodded. Alice got up and followed him.

"Are you feeling okay?" Rosalie asked. "You're not nauseous, or lightheaded or anything right?"

I giggled at how concerned Rosalie sounded. It was cute and rather nice to know she cared. "I'm fine," I assured her. "My throat is a little sore but other than that I feel perfect."

Rosalie grabbed another blanket that was draped across the back of the couch and wrapped it around me. "Just rest Bella," Rosalie whispered in my ear. "You need to rest."

Both of the blankets, combined with our clothes, kept me from feeling the coolness of Rosalie's body. It also made me uncomfortable and overheated. I liked the coolness associated with her body. I rearranged the blankets so they were on top of me and I leaned against Rosalie. "Bella," Rosalie said softly. "My body is too cold. You will get sicker."

I shook my head. "I'll be fine," I assured her. I rested my head against her shoulder and the rest of my body was pressed against her side. I instantly relaxed against her. The warmth of the blankets was enough to keep me from freezing against Rosalie's body.

"Are you sure this isn't going to make you worse?" Rosalie questioned. Despite her concern she wrapped an arm around me and held me close. It felt nice. I didn't want to move, ever. I liked that Rosalie wasn't afraid to touch me like Edward was. She trusted herself more than Edward ever did.

"I'm sure," I said. "I was getting too hot from the blankets." I glanced at Rosalie and she looked like she was about to start panicking but before she could Jasper walked in the living room with a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich that was cut in half.

"Thanks Jasper," I said smiling at him.

"Anytime Bella," Jasper replied, bowing like a good Southern gentleman.

"It's not poisoned Bella," Alice said, noticed that I hadn't started eating yet. I blushed. I didn't think it was poisoned but was curious about Jasper's cooking skills.

I decided to be brave and dipped my sandwich into the soup and took a bite. It was amazing. I had never tasted tomato soup like this before. I glanced at Jasper and he was grinning triumphantly, probably feeling my emotions regarding the food and realizing he had done a good job.

"So you heated up soup, there's no need to be so smug about it," Rosalie said glancing at Jasper. He must have been projecting. It was entertaining watching a vampire over a century old sticking his tongue out at Rosalie like a little kid.

"Jasper," I said yawning.

"Yes Bella," he said taking a seat next to Alice on the love seat.

"Can you tell me about your past?" I asked hesitantly. I know knew everyone's past except for Jasper. Jasper's was the one past that no one wanted to tell me about.

Jasper eyed me curiously and I noticed Alice squeezing his hand. I instantly felt guilty. It looked as if he didn't like talking about his past. "It's okay Bella," he said feeling my guilt. "I wondered when you would ask and to answer your question, yes I will tell you about it. It's time you know."

Jasper shifted slightly in his seat. "I was born in 1844 in Texas as Jasper Whitlock," Jasper began. "I was the youngest Major in the Confederate Army…" I listened carefully as Jasper explained his story to me. Now I understood why he had so much trouble with resisting human blood.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself," I whispered. Jasper looked at me. "You didn't know there was another way. You were being a vampire. You shouldn't punish yourself for that."

"Thanks Bella," Jasper said smiling at me.

"Bella came up with an interesting theory," Rosalie said as she ran her fingers through my hair. I burrowed myself closer to her body. I was content. For a brief moment I allowed my mind to wander, wondering what it would be like to be in this same position fifty years from now. The idea didn't scare me as much as would have thought.

"That is interesting," Alice said after her eyes glazed over for a second.

"What is it?" Jasper asked confused. He looked back and forth between me and Alice, occasionally glancing at Rosalie.

"Bella," Rosalie said nudging my shoulder. I looked at Rosalie with my mouth full of sandwich. Rosalie chuckled. "I'll explain it." She turned her attention back to Jasper. "Jazz, is bloodlust an emotion?"

Jasper furrowed his brow in concentration. "I'm not sure," he said finally. "Why?"

"Bella had a theory that the reason you have so many problems with your control is because you feel all of our bloodlust," Rosalie explained.

"That's interesting," Jasper agreed. "We would need to test that somehow. Thanks Bella, if your theory turns out to be true then you have really helped me out."

I blushed. "How do we test it?" I asked.

Rosalie stared at me. "What do you mean we?" she asked.

I hesitated. I had a feeling whatever I said would upset her. "The only way Jasper can test the theory is if he uses a human," I said slowly. "I'm sitting right here. It would be easy for him to test it on me, especially since you would never hurt me and Alice wouldn't either."

"No," Rosalie growled. "Absolutely not, I forbid it." To my embarrassment I started giggling, until she glared at me, then I cowered in fear. "This is not funny. You don't know what you are saying."

"I am offering to help Jasper," I said, trying to stay strong despite how weak I was feeling. "He's your brother. He's my brother." I felt Jasper's gratitude and acceptance at that comment. "I want to help him. There's no need to put other humans in danger, even if the danger in minimal, when I'm right here."

"I will not allow you to be a guinea pig," Rosalie growled. She turned to Jasper. "I know you would never purposely hurt her but accidents happen and I won't allow her life to be in danger."

"I understand," Jasper said. "We will have to find another way to test this."

I huffed a bit and Rosalie hugged. "I know you're mad," she whispered so the others couldn't hear. "But your safety is more important. I'm not trying to be difficult, maybe some time when you are not sick and Jasper has some more practice resisting human blood we can test this but not now."

Unfortunately Rosalie had a point. I was sick and weak. If something went wrong then it wouldn't take much to kill me, even by accident. "How about this summer?" I suggested. A few months was nothing to a vampire and if she agreed then that meant they would still be around when summer came.

"We can try for the summer," Rosalie said. Jasper nodded and Alice was unusually quiet. I have a feeling she knew the answer to the experiment but wasn't going to say.

Rosalie grabbed the plate and bowl from my lap and sat it on the coffee table. "Sleep Bella," Rosalie muttered.

I yawned again and snuggled closer to her. It didn't take long before I was fast asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Sammy McCallister- Yes Bella is Rosalie's true mate.

Konohashinobi07 - Emmett's disappearance is explained, as to why Bella didn't bring it up. She was simply too excited to see Alice and Jasper and on top of being sick she just forgot.

* * *

><p>Rosalie POV<p>

I could feel how happy Jasper was for me. He didn't have to project. Alice and Jasper watched me gently stroke Bella's hair as she slept. I felt bad for my mate. Being sick was never fun. I remembered one time, when I was human, I had gotten sick and it was miserable. I could only imagine how my Bella felt.

"She's happy," Jasper said. "That's good. I would hate to see her emotions when we left."

"She had no emotions when we left," I said sadly. "She was an empty shell and from what I can tell it didn't change until I came back for her."

"She loves you," Alice said.

I stared at her. "It's true," Jasper agreed. "I doubt she realizes it but she does love you." He pushed several emotions to me. "This is what she felt for Edward before her birthday." I felt love, longing and a small amount of fear. "This is what she feels for him now." There was still a hint of love but it was mostly anger, sadness and betrayal.

"Now this is how she felt for you before," Jasper continued. I felt respect and familial love. "And now." Her feelings for me were overwhelming to say the least. I felt love, devotion, longing, some uncertainty, fear of rejection, desire, even lust. It seemed her fear of rejection and low self-esteem is what is keeping her from realizing her feelings.

"She really feels all that?" I asked in awe. I never thought a human's feelings could be so complex or strong.

"Yes," Jasper said. "She's also afraid she won't be enough for you. I think that's what's holding her back, what's keeping her from admitting she loves you. She had the same problem when she was with Edward. It's just stronger now."

"So what do I do?" I asked.

"Kiss her," Alice suggested innocently. I glared at her. "What?"

"I'm not going to kiss her," I said firmly. I wanted to, God how I wanted to but I wanted to be sure it was what she wanted. She had to be sure of her feelings, not some experiment, even though if she did want to experiment I would be more than happy to do it.

"If you would just make a decision about her I could tell you what happens," Alice said frustrated. I chuckled. I kept changing my mind on purpose. I didn't want her to see what would happen because I was scared. "I do see you two together," she added. "I've always seen that though it was occasionally mixed with visions of her and Edward." I growled softly so I didn't wake Bella. "Now I don't see them together at all."

I couldn't help but smile at those words. The one thing I hated most was that she ended up with Edward in Alice's visions. I could handle, well barely handle, if Bella wanted to be with a human, man or woman, that could give her everything I couldn't. But for her to be with my brother, a brother that knew she was my mate, I couldn't deal with that.

"Fevers going down," I muttered after feeling her forehead again. True she was always warm to me but I was able to tell when it wasn't normal.

Alice closed her eyes for a second. "She should be mostly fine tomorrow," she said. "Tired but feeling better."

I shifted slightly so I could grab my phone. "I'll call Charlie, see if he will let Bella stay the night," I said.

"He won't have a problem with it," Alice said before she started snickering.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," she said a little too quickly for my liking.

It was pointless to try and get any information out of her so I dialed Charlie's number and waited. "_Chief Swan_," Charlie answered.

"_Charlie, it's Rosalie Hale_," I said.

"_Is Bella alright Rosalie_?" he asked slightly panicked.

"_She is fine Charlie_," I assured him. I could hear him sigh in relief when he found out Bella was alright. I really respected the man for caring so much about his daughter. "_She fell asleep at my place. I don't really want to wake her to take her home so I was wondering if she could spend the night here_."

"_That's fine_," Charlie said. "_You're not planning on seducing my daughter are you_?"

My jaw dropped and Alice and Jasper were laughing, not loud enough to alert Charlie or wake Bella but still loud enough. "No of course not Charlie," I assured him. While the idea was appealing Bella was asleep and sick.

"_Good_," he said. "_That's good_." I could practically feel his embarrassment through the phone, poor guy. It must be hard having a teenage daughter. I wondered if he was going to dislike me when I was with Bella as much as he disliked Edward when he was with Bella. If I had to guess I would say no as long as I treated her right, which I already planned to, and didn't make her want to move back to Arizona.

We said our goodbyes and I hung up the phone. We sat there, enjoying the peace and quiet, before I realized something. "Shit," I swore under my breath.

I glanced at Alice and she started bouncing in her seat. "Please let me do it, please, please, pl…"

I cut her off. "Fine Alice," I said. There was no point in saying no, besides I didn't want to leave my Bella. "But don't go crazy only get things she would actually wear or use."

She pouted for a minute but agreed. Jasper looked confused. "What is going on?" he asked.

"We are going shopping," Alice squealed in excitement.

"Alice," I scolded as Bella shifted slightly in my arms. Luckily she stayed asleep.

"Shopping," Jasper repeated weakly. Jasper hated shopping almost as much as Bella did. The only reason he dealt with it was because Alice loved it and he would do anything to make her happy.

"Bella doesn't have any clothes here," I told him. "It would be good to get her some things so she can stay." I shook my head at the sight of Alice bouncing in her spot. "Remember what I said Alice."

"Yeah, yeah," Alice said. She jumped up and dragged Jasper out of my apartment, yelling a goodbye as she left.

I groaned. There was no way Alice was going to listen to me but I had to try. If all else fails I'll wash Bella's clothes in the morning and she can wear them to school.

I figured I had at least three hours before Alice and Jasper returned so I shifted my body so my legs were on the couch and Bella was fully on top of me and I turned the TV on. I flipped through channels hoping to find something to keep me occupied but two seconds of the Real Housewives made me want to adopt Peter and Charlotte's diet. People thought I was a pain in the ass that was nothing compared to these women. I may be vain and self-centered but at least I was beautiful. These women were far from beautiful.

Finally I settled on a music station and closed my eyes. This was as close to sleeping as I would ever get and I had to admit it was rather relaxing.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. I knew it wasn't Alice or Jasper as they had only been gone a few minutes so that only left one person. "Come in Emmett," I called softly. He heard me with no trouble and Bella stayed fast asleep.

"Hey Rose," Emmett said cheerfully. He shut the door louder than he needed to and I glared at him. He saw my glare and his eyes travelled down to my sleeping mate. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

He sat down in the chair that Alice and Jasper had occupied earlier. "How was hunting with the guys?" I asked.

Emmett had spent the last couple days hunting with the guys from Denali, Eleazar and Laurent. I wasn't fond of Laurent since he was part of James' coven but he seemed nice enough. When we first got to Alaska I made sure to thank him for his information on Victoria and James. It wasn't much but it may have saved Bella's life.

Laurent didn't understand why I was thanking him, after all it should have been Edward that was grateful but that wasn't the case. Edward glared and made snide comments at him for weeks after we got there and only stopped after Laurent threatened to remove a limb.

"It was fine," Emmett said shrugging.

"Just fine?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"They were both missing their mates," Emmett said. To anyone else he would have sounded perfectly fine but I knew better. He acted like he was fine about meeting his mate in ten years, always joking about how it wasn't that long to a vampire, but deep down I knew it wasn't true. There would always be a hint of longing in his voice until he met her. "How long has she been sleeping?"

I checked my watch. "About thirty minutes," I replied. "She wasn't feeling too well earlier."

Emmett frowned. "Does she need to go to the doctor?" he asked worried. I smiled. I loved how much Emmett cared about her.

"No," I said shaking my head. "Alice checked. It's just a cold and a sore throat. Alice said she would be fine by morning but tired."

He sighed in relief. "That's good," he said. "I would hate for her to get sick on top of everything else that has happened."

"She seems to be doing fine," I said, checking her forehead again. It was still warm but her temperature may have dropped. I couldn't be sure without a thermometer.

"Are you going to have to wake her so you can take her home?" Emmett asked. "Or you just going to carry her to your car?"

I shook my head. "She's staying here tonight," I told him. "Alice and Jasper are out getting some things she will need and probably a bunch of things she will never touch."

Emmett chuckled. "You should have known better than to send Alice," he laughed.

"I didn't have much of a choice," I said sighing. "She saw it."

"Carlisle and Esme still aren't happy," Emmett said after a minute. "Esme tried to call Edward and tell him where we were."

"I wish she would butt out of things concerning my mate," I said. I love Esme, I really do but she was getting on my last nerve and if she wasn't careful she may find herself missing an arm next time we see them. "I'm guessing she didn't get ahold of him?"

Emmett shook his head. "No thankfully she didn't," Emmett said. The relief in his voice was evident. "I was thinking of maybe getting my own apartment here. I want to be closer to my little sister and Carlisle and Esme are trying to guilt me into not coming back here. I think it would be easier for everyone."

"That would be great Emmett," I said. "Bella would love to have you close by."

Emmett played his Xbox for a while, while I watched. He had the most barbaric games I had ever seen and this was coming from a vampire. I watched Emmett blow off zombies heads. Thank God zombies weren't real. They were disgusting, eating human flesh.

A few hours later Bella shifted on my lap. Her heartbeat sped up and I could feel her waking up. "Rose," Bella mumbled sleepily.

"Hi Bella," I whispered back.

Emmett paused his game. "Hey Bells," he said cheerfully.

"Em?" Bella questioned. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. She glanced at our position and blushed.

"How are you feelings Bella?" Emmett questioned. I kept my grip on her waist. She had tensed slightly when she saw how close we were but relaxed when Emmett questioned her. If what Jasper said was true then she was most likely worried about making me uncomfortable.

"Fine," she replied. "How long did I sleep?"

I checked my watch again. "About three hours," I answered.

She looked around the room. "Where are Alice and Jasper?"

Emmett and I avoided eye contact with her. She was not going to be happy when she found out. "Rose, Em," Bella said looking back and forth between the two of us.

"She's your mate Rose," Emmett whispered too softly for Bella to hear. Emmett was such a wimp sometimes.

"I called your dad," I said, trying to delay the inevitable moment where I had to tell her Alice was shopping for her. "He's allowing you to stay the night but you don't have any clothes, or toiletries or anything so Alice and Jasper are shopping for you."

Bella's eyes widened, it would have been comical if not for the fact that she was getting angry. "I don't…"

I cut her off. I enjoyed angry Bella, especially when it was directed at my brother, but I wouldn't be able to resist telling her how cute she was when she was angry. Now is still not the time to open that can of worms. "I didn't have much of a choice," I told her. "I didn't want to leave you alone and she really wanted to go. I told her to keep it simple but it is Alice, she probably won't listen. I hope Jasper can keep her under control at least somewhat."

The anger slowly faded away. "I guess I can't ask for anything more than that," she said sighing. "Thanks for staying with me."

"Anytime Bella," I replied. "Emmett, can you find that thermometer I bought? It's in the medicine cabinet in my bathroom."

Emmett paused his game again and got up to go get it. I wanted to make sure her temperature wasn't too high. I was pretty sure it was fine but I wasn't taking any chances when it came to Bella.

I heard Emmett muttering about overprotective mates as Bella started to protest. "I don't need my temperature taken," she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes you do," I disagreed. "I just want to make her it's not too high. I should have checked when we got here but I didn't think about it. Please, do it for me."

I smiled at her and watched as she forgot to breath and her heart sped up. I mentally grinned in satisfaction. She was definitely attracted to me, no matter how much she tried to fight it. "Fine," she agreed as Emmett came back with the thermometer.

I stuck the thermometer in her mouth, after another brief attempt by Bella to get me to change my mind. I waited for the beep before pulling it out. 100.2, I read. I sighed in relief. It was considered a fever but it wasn't as bad as it could be. If I had to guess it would say her temperature was over 101 degrees earlier today. "So?" Bella asked. "Am I cleared doctor?"

I showed her the thermometer. "It's still high," I told her. "But you will be good by morning." I wish I would have gone to medical school. If I had known my mate would end up being human, especially a clumsy human like my Bella, I would have gone.

"What time is it?" she asked me.

I checked my phone. "Almost seven," I replied. She was probably getting hungry. I should make her something, or send Emmett out to grab something.

My phone beeped. There was a text from Alice. _Saw what you were planning_, it read. _Jasper and I are almost done. We will pick something up for her on the way. Tell her we said hi. Love, Alice_

"I should get home," she said trying to get off the couch. I gently pulled her back into my lap.

"You're not going home tonight," I told her. She stared at me confused. "I called your dad and he gave you permission to stay here tonight. I'll take you school tomorrow, unless you want to borrow my car."

"No," she said shaking her head repeatedly. I chuckled. I knew that was coming.

"Alright then, I'll take you," I said happily. It gave me an excuse to spend more time with her.

Emmett was back to playing his Xbox. Bella and I watched silently for a few minutes before I heard her stomach growl. "Hungry Bella?" Emmett asked laughing. "You sound like a bear."

Bella glared at him for a minute before laughing along. "Very hungry," she answered. "Didn't realize it till now."

"Alice and Jasper are on their way back with some food for you," I said as I played with her hair. We were so relaxed, Emmett playing his game, occasionally yelling a string of profanities, and me and Bella sitting together and watching him. I liked this and I never wanted it to end.

The more time I spent with her, the closer we got, the more I realized I wanted to change her. I still wanted her to have a chance at having a family but I was slowly getting over that. It was her choice. It would always be her choice. If she didn't want a child then that was fine, maybe we could adopt in the future. Obviously not right away. As a newborn she will want blood, blood and more blood. That was the part that sucked the never ending desire for blood. Blood even overrode your desire for your mate, at least in the beginning.

"Did Alice say how much stuff she bought?" Bella asked me.

I shook my head. "If you can't see Jasper walking through the door when they come back then Alice went a little overboard," he laughed. I glared at him when the saw the horrified look on Bella's face.

"I'm sure Alice didn't go that overboard," I tried to assure her. She better not have gone that overboard, I added silently.

I heard Alice and Jasper in the hallway a few minutes later. It didn't sound like they had too many bags but it was Alice. She may have had them all in her car. Bella jumped when she heard the front door open.

"Hey Bella," Alice said grinning as she walked into the living room. She was holding a bag of food and her purse in one hand and three shopping bags in the other. I'm sure Bella couldn't read the store names on the bag but I could. She had gone to Vans, Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger. It wasn't bad, well to me. It could have been a lot worse.

Then Jasper came into the room. I groaned at the number of bags he had, five in each arm. It was still relatively mild for Alice but Bella was not going to be happy. At least she stuck with only the necessities, for the most part. I was 100% certain Bella would not agree that she needed a Gucci bag and wallet.

"Alice I thought you were supposed to be doing a reasonable amount of shopping?" Bella said as Alice handed Bella the bag of food. Even in the bag and sealed containers the food smelled repulsive.

"This is reasonable," Alice insisted. Emmett got up and grabbed Bella a glass of orange juice. It was supposed to help keep a person healthy. I'm glad I thought to buy it.

Bella pulled out a sandwich, a salad and some French fries. She looked between the three before settling on the salad. Emmett went back to his game while Bella ate. "How is that reasonable?" Bella asked after taking a few bites.

"I got everything you need, everything that was on Rosalie's list," she said proudly. I rolled my eyes. My list did not include anything from Gucci, though the purse was cute. I could see it through the bag.

Bella turned to me. "Why do I need stuff from Gucci?" she asked me. I glared at my sister.

"You don't," I said. "That was all Alice."

"Every girl needs a nice purse," Alice said defending her actions.

Bella snorted but continued eating. Alice got bored and decided to put away Bella's new clothes and accessories. "I don't have my backpack," Bella said frowning. She sat aside the empty salad container and reached for her juice and French fries.

"Don't worry about it Bells," Emmett said. Bella winced as Emmett blew up another zombie on his game. "I'll go to your house when you go to sleep and grab your stuff."

"Why couldn't you have grabbed some of my clothes too?" Bella complained. She had a point. Not that I wanted Emmett digging through her clothes.

"Because I wouldn't allow it," Alice said coming back into the room. "I won't make you wear designer clothes all the time," because I wouldn't allow her to force Bella to wear them, "but if you're going to stay the night here then you have to."

Bella looked back and forth between me and Alice for a few seconds before sighing in defeat. "Fine," she agreed.

"Great," Alice said clapping with a little too much force. "Let's play a game."


	13. Chapter 13

_Bella and Jacob will never be more than friends in this story. He's not in love with her and she's not in love with him. Because of this the relationship between the wolves and the Cullens is going to be a lot different._

Bella POV

School was finally over. I had never been so happy to get out of school in my life. Everyone stared at me today and I didn't find out why until lunch. Apparently Rosalie coming to school to pick me up last week was big news. Jessica and Lauren, the two biggest gossips, were gone for the week due to Mono, coincidentally Mike Newton was also gone for the week though no one was talking about that, and no one had heard about it until now. From what I had heard Richard, some friend of Lauren and Jessica, had seen us and told the gossip queens when they came back to school and they spread the news around within two hours.

I had several people come up to me throughout the day. Most weren't too surprised I was seen with a Cullen again but at the same time they were surprised I would be friendly with them after what had happened. The most surprising part was me being seen with Rosalie as my 'friends' knew she didn't really like me.

It seemed like half the guys in school were coming up to me asking if they could watch. It wasn't until the fifth guy came up to me that I realized what they were talking about. I blushed and rushed away from them.

By the end of the day I was debating on calling Emmett and Jasper to threaten the guys to leave me alone. Emmett was easily the scariest person I had ever met but Jasper could be scarier than him if he wanted to be. Rosalie would probably threaten to kill them if they so much as looked at me so it was best not to tell her and the guys would most likely think Alice was joking.

I headed to my truck, ignoring the people calling my name. I got out of the parking lot as quickly as I could, without running anyone over even though I was tempted to. I was going to see Jacob again after a week of not being able to get into contact with him. Today was the day I found out what was wrong with him and if he had gotten the bikes done yet. I wasn't as eager to ride them but after the time and money put into them I wanted to ride it at least once.

I scanned the area as I drove to La Push. I talked to Rosalie on the way to school this morning and told her my plans. She wasn't happy about it but she agreed. I wasn't sure what her problem with La Push was but I guessed it was because she couldn't come after me. I half expected to see her, Emmett, Alice or Jasper watching me, or following me to Jacob's house but I didn't see any of them, or their cars.

Maybe Rosalie trusted me when I said I would be safe. That was new. Edward never trusted me when I would tell him I could go someone and be safe. It was nice that a Cullen listened to me. Though they still wouldn't tell me what was going on with Jacob and I know they know. Emmett kept insisting I need to figure it out myself.

I pulled into Jacob's driveway. Everything looked the same as it did last time I was here. I don't know why I thought it would be different. Jacob's car was parked outside of his garage. It looked like he finally finished it.

I got out of my truck and walked to the front door. I had a feeling Jacob wasn't here. If he was then he would have been outside already since my truck is so loud. I knocked on the door and waited. "Bella," Billy said pulling the front door open. He didn't look happy to see me.

"Is Jacob here?" I asked, trying to look around his wheelchair and into the house. There was no sign of Jacob but it didn't mean he wasn't there. Maybe he was hiding because he felt bad for ignoring me.

"He's asleep," Billy answered. "You shouldn't be here Bella."

"I really need to see him," I said, hiding my hurt. I know I haven't visited in a while but he didn't have to be so mean. Was Jacob really that upset with me? Was that why he wasn't returning my phone calls?

"Bella," Billy tried again. I pushed past him and went straight to Jacob's bedroom. I pushed the door open, ready to yell at Jacob for ignoring me but seeing Jacob sleeping made me stop. I sighed and gently closed the door. Billy had been right. It wasn't some made up story to keep me away.

"I'm sorry," I told Billy. He nodded in acceptance of my apology. "When he wakes up will you tell him I'm at the beach?" He looked as if he was going to come up with some reason why Jacob couldn't come. "Please."

"I'll tell him," Billy promised. I thanked him and left the house.

I walked to the beach from Billy's house, leaving my truck there as I wanted to make it clear I wasn't leaving until I talked to Jacob.

When I got to the beach I took my shoes off and tossed them aside. I walked along the beach, shuddering when the water touched me. It was peaceful here. I wish Rosalie could be here with me.

Things with Rosalie have gotten weirder since she returned. I don't quite understand it. I get this feeling that Emmett, Alice and Jasper knows something I don't. I've always know Rosalie was hiding something but it seems they are in on the big secret.

I guessed the big secret was about Rosalie's mate but for the life of me I couldn't figure out who it was. I felt a twinge in my heard at the thought of Rosalie with some unknown girl. I had come to rely on Rosalie so much these last few weeks. I didn't want to have to share her with someone.

I tried not to think of Rosalie's mate too much. I didn't want to think about how I was going to lose her when they finally got together. I couldn't handle that, not again.

"Bella," Jacob called pulling me from my thoughts.

I looked up and saw Jacob walking towards me, his hands in his pockets, wearing only a pair of shorts. His hair was short and he had a tattoo on his left shoulder. He was a bit more muscular than he was before but not much. He had definitely changed. "Jacob," I greeted happily. I missed him.

"What did you want?" he asked. He glanced in the direction of the woods like he was listening to something.

"Where have you been?" I asked. This wasn't the Jacob I knew and loved. Well it was but he was different, angrier and I couldn't figure out why.

"Why do you care?" Jacob sneered. "You ditched me for them, even after everything they had done to you."

I stopped mid-step. He was talking about the Cullens. It was the only thing he could be talking about but how did he know they were back? I never told him. "I care," I said finally. "I've always cared Jacob. Why do you think I came here today?"

The angry expression of his face became less noticeable but still angry. "You're not denying their back," Jacob said. At least he seemed more curious than angry now.

I shrugged. "I'm not going to lie to you Jacob," I said. I was never good at lying so lying to him would be a mistake and he may never trust me again. "Rosalie is back and Emmett, Jasper and Alice have been visiting me. Well Alice and Jasper just started visiting me. Carlisle, Esme and Ed…Edward aren't back and are probably not coming back." Jacob nodded in acceptance. "Now how do you know about them being back?"

Jacob looked back and forth between me and the woods. "Do you trust me?" he asked. He calmed down a lot and sat beside me as I put my shoes back on.

What kind of question was that? Of course I trusted him. But the way he asked it… there was definitely something going on. "Yes I do," I said. He studied me carefully as if trying to figure out if I was lying. I don't blame him since I didn't answer him right away.

"Come with me then," he said softly, standing out and offering his hand. It sounded like a command but I could see he was giving me a choice and a chance to run, like Edward had done when we first got together.

I touched his hand for half a second before jerking it away. "Jake, your hand," I said. Did he not notice he had a fever? His temperature had to be well over 100 degrees. How was he still standing?

"I'm fine Bella," he said slightly amused. "I promise I will explain everything, this included."

I took his offered hand and let him lead me to the woods. With my free hand I felt for the phone in my jacket pocket. I didn't think Jacob would hurt me but just in case something happened I could call Rosalie, or Emmett to come get me.

The hot temperature of Jake's hand kept me from being too cold as we walked through the woods. It was nice but it made me miss Rosalie's body temperature. I preferred the coolness of her body to the heat of Jake's.

I wondered what changed that would make him so hot to the touch. My first guess was he was sick but a temperature that hot would probably kill him and he seemed fine so I ruled that out. He could be a werewolf, I joked to myself. I mean if vampire temperatures are so cold then it would make sense that something with hot skin would be a werewolf. I remember reading or seeing some movie that said vampires and werewolves were natural enemies.

"Where are we?" I asked when we stopped. There were no roads nearby and we were in a secluded area, nothing around us as far as I could see.

"The woods," Jacob said smirking at me. I rolled my eyes at him. "This is where we meet. It's far away from people so they don't notice us."

"You know I don't understand what you are talking about?" I asked trying to clarify. "Who are we? And why would it matter if someone saw you guys."

"They are we," Jake said pointing to the left of me where several guys walked out into the open.

"Hello Bella," said the oldest boy, or he looked like the oldest. I turned to Jake.

"It's okay," Jake assured me. "That's Sam Uley, on his left is Paul Lahote and on his right is Jared Cameron. The other guy is Embry Call."

"Are you sure about this Jacob?" Sam asked him. "You can take her back to your house and we can forget about this."

Jake chuckled. "Bella won't let it go now," he said. "But I'm sure Sam. She's family. Besides she knows about the Cullens and accepts them, why wouldn't she accept us?"

"Yeah but we're not a bunch of leech lovers," Paul sneered.

"Can someone please explain what's going on?" I asked nervously. "How do you guys know about the Cullens?"

"Bella," Jacob said, turning his attention away from his friends. "Do you remember the stories I told you the first time you came to La Push?"

I furrowed my brow trying to remember. I remembered walking along the beach with him and trying to flirt and… one of the guys mentioning the Cullens never come to La Push. It caught my attention and I asked Jacob about it. My eyes widened in realization as the words Jake spoke over a year ago came back to me. "_Did you know the Quileute's are descended from wolves?"_ he had said.

I remember my reaction to that one question. I had laughed at the thought. I remember Jacob mentioning that the wolves only had one enemy, vampires and the Cullens had made a treaty with the Quileutes. The treaty is what kept the Cullens from coming to La Push.

I glanced at Jake's face. He was giving me time to process everything and I was grateful for that. "Wolves," I whispered. "You're a werewolf."

"Yes," Jacob said.

Charlie had mentioned some people had disappeared over the last week or so. He thought it was an animal attack. "The disappearances?" I asked. I hoped it wasn't them.

Sam shook his head. "We do not harm humans Bella," he said firmly. "We protect them from vampires. Vampires are the only thing we do hunt."

"A vampire is behind the disappearances," I muttered to myself.

"Yes," Jared said. I looked up at him.

"We have good hearing and naturally hot skin," Jake explained, noticing my confused look. "There is a vampire that's been hanging around here, not including the blonde Cullen that has been around for weeks and we don't know what she is after."

"Rosalie," I offered. The wolves, other than Jacob, looked at me strangely.

"We don't care about their names," Paul sneered.

"Paul," Sam warned. "As Jacob was saying, this red headed vampire has been hanging around for a while." My heart dropped.

"Red-headed vampire," I repeated faintly. This was bad. This was very, very bad. "I know what she wants."

The others looked at me. All but Paul looked concerned. "Bella what does she want?" Jacob asked.

"Me," I whispered before collapsing on the ground.

"When do you think she will wake up?" Jared asked. I could feel someone poking my shoulder.

"Embry leave her alone," a woman scolded. I didn't recognize her voice. I opened my eyes and saw Jake staring at me.

"Bella, thank God," he said sighing in relief. "You were out for over an hour. We were starting to worry."

I tried to sit up but I felt small hands pulling me back down. "Don't get up," the woman's voice instructed softly. "You need to rest. If not for Jacob's fast reflexes you would have hit your head on the ground."

"What happened?" I asked trying once again to sit up. Jacob chuckled from next to me and helped pull me up so my back was resting against the back of the couch.

"You passed out after mumbling something about the red-headed leech being after you," Embry called from somewhere behind me.

"Victoria," I mumbled. I had to tell Rosalie she was back and Emmett and Alice and Jasper. Then again Alice probably already knew, which meant Rosalie knew.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the messages. There were no missed calls or texts. That was weird. I knew with 100% certainty if Alice told Rosalie about Victoria then she would be calling me and trying to convince me to go home or go to her apartment.

The only thing I could think of was either Alice didn't tell Rosalie or Alice didn't see this happen. I was leaning towards the latter. Maybe it had to do with the werewolves? "No one cares about the leech's name," Paul sneered from the chair by the couch.

"Paul," Sam warned. "Behave or go for a walk, your choice."

Paul glanced at Sam before glaring at me, getting up and storming out of the house. "Where am I?" I asked looking around. This wasn't Jacob's house but I couldn't tell whose it was.

"This is my house," Sam said proudly. "It was the closest place to take you." The woman sat down next to Sam. I glanced at her and saw the side of her face was covered in scars. I felt bad for her and quickly looked away. Now I could understand why Rosalie didn't want me coming here. It wasn't safe, at least in her opinion. "This is Emily Young, my fiancée."

"Nice to meet you Bella," Emily said patting my shoulder. "I made some muffins, the boys ate most of them but I saved one for you. Would you like it?"

"Sure," I agreed. I was kind of hungry since I didn't eat at school today due to the fact that I avoided the cafeteria.

Emily got off Sam's lap and headed to the kitchen. "Tell us about Victoria," Jacob instructed as nicely as he could. It wasn't hard to tell he was on edge after hearing Victoria was after me.

"I met her last year," I began. I launched into the tale of how I met Victoria and all about James and Laurent. I only paused when I took a bite of the delicious muffin Emily made. I needed this recipe.

I had just gotten to the part where Edward left me in the woods and Rosalie had found me and took me home and I didn't think Jacob or Sam could look angrier. "He left you," Jacob hissed jumping off the couch. He started pacing back and forth in front of me.

"Jacob," Sam called. "Get outside and run it off then come back." I had a feeling it wasn't simply Sam asking Jacob to do this, it seemed like he was forcing him. Jacob looked at me for a second before leaving the house.

"It's the Alpha command," Jared explained helpfully. My confusion must have been obvious. "We have to obey no matter what." I glanced to the front door where Jacob had just left.

"He will be back soon," Sam assured me. "He's the newest of the pack and while his control is rather impressive it is not perfect. He just needs a minute to cool off. I have a question for you."

"Okay," I said, now slightly nervous.

"The Cullens are back right?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not all of them, just Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper," I told him. "Only Rosalie and Emmett have come back to Forks though."

"Right," Sam said. He was trying really hard to be polite about them. I wonder what was up. "Our tribe has a treaty with the Cullens. We are not allowed to hunt vampires on their land and they can't come on our land. I… we would like you to talk to Rosalie and she if she would be willing to meet us. We need her permission to hunt for Victoria on their land."

"I can ask after I go home," I agreed. Something tells me Rosalie won't be too happy with the idea but I would do what I can. Sam looked relieved. "I'm pretty sure she won't be happy to hear Victoria is back and will want to take care of her quickly."

Sam nodded. "You have Jacob's number so give him a call with her answer," he said. "Jake can give you my number and Rosalie and I can sort out a meeting."

"I'll let her know," I promised. I pulled the cell phone out of my pocket. It was after five. I needed to get home and get dinner ready.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked trying to push me back onto the couch.

"I need to get home," I said. "I need to make dinner for Charlie and Rose is probably worried. How far is Jacob's house from here?" Sam looked confused. "My truck is there."

"You are in no condition to drive," Emily said firmly. I looked to Sam for help.

"Sorry Bella, she is right," he said. "I can have someone drive you home and drop your truck off later."

I shook my head. "No, there's no need for you guys to waste your time on me," I said. "I can call Emmett and ask him to pick me up."

"Cullens aren't allowed on our land," Sam reminded me.

I frowned. "How far is the boundary?" I questioned.

"About four miles and you're not walking over there," he said firmly. "Jacob can drive you there. Jared, go and get Jacob while Bella calls her friend."

Jared left the house while I scrolled down to Emmett's name. "_Hey Bellsy_," Emmett's cheerful voice called through the small speaker. "_What's up_?"

"Can we meet me at the Quileute boarder?" I asked.

"_What's wrong Bella_?" Emmett asked. His voice lost all traces of humor. It was strange hearing him this serious.

"I need to talk to Rosalie and you and Alice and Jasper," I said quickly, before Emmett decided to break their treaty and come to La Push looking for me. "I just need a ride home and if you guys come to my room tonight when Charlie goes to bed I'll explain everything."

"_Did your truck break down_?" he asked chuckling. There was the Emmett I knew and loved. Jacob walked into the house and stood by the door watching me.

"No," I replied. "Jacob and his friends won't let me drive." Emmett growled. "Relax Emmett, I can go home. I'm just not allowed to drive. Please pick me up."

"_I'll be there in a few_," he said. He hung up the phone before I could reply. I hoped he was taking his jeep. I didn't want to run with him. I wasn't thrilled about running with vampires.

"He…" Sam cut me off. "We heard. Jacob," he said. They made eye contact for a few seconds before Jacob walked toward me. Emily tossed Jacob some car keys.

"Come on Bella," Jacob said.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and walked me out of the house. I tried protesting and assuring him I could walk on my own but he didn't listen to me. I mentally groaned he was just as bad as Rosalie.

He sped off to the imaginary line marking where the Cullens couldn't go. "My truck…" I began. I wasn't sure if I trusted them alone with my truck.

"Will be dropped off tonight," Jacob finished. "I'll bring it by in a few hours. That's about how long it will take to drive it to your house," he joked.

I glared at Jacob. I liked my truck. I had to figure out some way to keep him from being too close to Rosalie, otherwise my truck might meet an untimely demise and Jacob and Rosalie were the only mechanics I knew. "How is the work on the bikes going?" I asked.

I assumed we were close to the treaty line as Jacob had slowed down and I saw a parked vehicle in the distance. I couldn't tell what the vehicle was but it looked big. Jacob didn't say anything so I glanced at him and saw he looked guilty. "Sorry Bells," he said. "With everything that's happened I haven't really had time to work on them."

"It's fine," I said shrugging it off. While I still wanted to have the chance to ride the bikes it wasn't the most important thing to me right now. I could wait. "Take your time Jake."

Jacob nodded as he pulled up behind Emmett's jeep. I unbuckled my seatbelt as Jacob shut off Sam's car and just as I opened the car door Jake was already there helping me out. "What happened?" Emmett demanded, pushing himself away from the jeep. I saw the jeep move slightly from the force.

"She passed out earlier," Jacob explained. "I caught her before she hit her head but we're not doctors, we don't know if there is anything wrong. I just want to be extra sure she's alright."

Emmett gently pushed Jacob out of the way and start poking and prodding me. "Is there any pain?" he questioned.

"No," I replied. "Where did you learn to do this?"

Emmett shrugged. "I helped out at some hospitals back in the 70s," he answered. "I'm no doctor but I know the basics, any nausea or dizziness?"

I shook my head. "You don't have to do this Emmett," I said.

"Yes I do," he argued. "If something happens to you because I didn't check every possibility then Rose will kill me but not before she killed your puppy."

I quickly looked at Jacob, waiting for him to get pissed off but Jake merely rolled his eyes. "Whatever bloodsucker," he said. They were friendly, or as friendly as two sworn enemies could be. It was odd. Paul didn't bother to hide his hatred for them and Sam tried hard to not openly insult them but Jake was nice.

"Let's get you home Bella," Emmett said. "I don't see anything wrong with you but I'll have Rose keep an eye on you tonight just in case. Thanks Jacob."

"Sure," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Let the others know I'm bringing her truck tonight."

Emmett helped me into his jeep, despite my protests. Once I was settled he ran at vampire speed to the driver's side. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Emmett asked. He drove slowly back to Forks, to give us time to talk.

"Not yet," I replied. "I want the five of us to be together first." He nodded. He didn't seem happy but he respected my decision. I left out the part where I wanted us all together to try to stop them from storming off after Victoria and getting themselves killed. "I talked to Rosalie this morning."

Emmett glanced at me, his eyes wide. "She told you?" he questioned excited. What was he talking about? Rosalie and I had talked about our plans after I graduated. I decided to apply to college and finish at least a semester before I was turned but what did Emmett mean? Was she supposed to tell me something? "It's about time too," Emmett continued, not noticing my confusion. "I told her she would be a lot happier if she just told you, you were her mate."

My eyes widened in shock. Wait, what?


	14. Chapter 14

_Well here's the much anticipated reaction._

_I'm a little nervous about this chapter so I hope everyone likes it._

_Thanks for the reviews and alerts! Keep them coming!_

Rosalie POV

I was in the woods not even a half a mile from Bella's house when I heard Emmett coming toward me. Emmett had called me right after Bella had called him. He said she had something important to talk to us about, us meaning me, Emmett, Alice and Jasper, and Bella had asked him to pick her up. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what she wanted to talk about, not when it involved my brothers and sister.

When Emmett had told me Bella needed to be picked up I wanted to storm off to the dog territory and demand explanations. Why did Bella need to be picked up? She had her truck, granted it was a piece of junk. Emmett assured me she was fine but wasn't allowed to drive for some reason.

I frowned. Emmett was walking unusually slow, even by human standards. Something was wrong with him. I stopped where I was and waited for him to catch up. It was obvious he wanted to talk to me though I was unsure why.

He walked out into the open seconds later and I immediately tensed up. "Hey Rose," he said quietly, avoiding making eye contact. My eyes narrowed at him. He had done something wrong. I could tell. The last time he looked this guilty and acted like this him and Jasper were wrestling in the garage and destroyed my favorite car.

I had no idea what he had done but I knew it wasn't good. My only guess was it involved Bella. It was the only think he could have done that would make him feel this guilty. "What did you do?" I hissed.

"What makes you think I did something?" he protested weakly. I stared at him with my eyebrow raised. "Right," he sighed. "Don't be mad Rose." I impatiently tapped my foot on the ground, waiting for him to continue, to confess whatever he had done.

He didn't hurt Bella that much was certain otherwise we wouldn't be by her house, but did he change her? I shook my head. He would have told me immediately if he had and he would never have brought her home. Not with her father here. "Spit out Emmett," I demanded. The suspense was killing me.

"I uh… I may have… um," he was struggling to get the words out. I had never seen him act this human before. "I kind of, accidently told her she was your mate," he finished at vampire speed.

"You did what?" I asked my voice as cold as my skin. He flinched at my tone.

"I told her she was your mate, by accident," he repeated.

"Emmett Dale McCarthy Cullen," I screeched. "What the hell were you thinking? Why would you tell her that?" The bird in the area flew away and I could hear the animals rushing away from us. Nothing scared the wildlife away like an angry vampire.

Emmett winced. I rarely called him by his full name and he knew he was in trouble when I did. "She said you guys talked and I just assumed you told her," he muttered.

I sighed and ran my hand through my blonde hair, fighting the urge to rip it out. "You thought I would tell her the single most important thing she would hear in her life, in a car on the way to school," I growled. "Emmett you know better than that. When I told her I was going to plan it out for an entire day, not in a thirty to forty minute car ride."

"You're right," he said, clearly frustrated with himself. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking but you couldn't keep lying to her about this. She was going to find out sooner or later."

"I know," I said softly. I was still angry at him for what he did but I was mostly angry at myself. "I just wanted to be the one to tell her."

"I'm sorry," he said sadly. "I really am. I just wasn't thinking."

I sighed. What was done was done. There was nothing I could do about that now. Now I just had to deal with the aftermath. "How did she react?" I asked nervous. I wasn't sure I wanted to know her reaction.

Emmett frowned. Was her reaction that bad? "She didn't really react," he admitted. "I think she was a bit distracted by whatever she wants to tell us tonight but it was strange. She asked if I was sure, that's how I figured out she didn't know, and I told her yes cause I couldn't lie to her and then she got quiet. When we got back to her house she asked me to leave until later tonight when we all came back."

That's not good. A quiet Bella is never a good thing. She's up to something. Then again I could be wrong. She could be trying to process everything. I wonder what that meant for me, for us. "Why are you still here?" I asked. It was getting dark and she had to have thrown him out at least two hours ago.

"I wanted to keep an eye on her," Emmett said shrugging. "There's something off around here, can't you feel it?"

I nodded. Multiple times over the last week I had smelt a familiar scent but I still couldn't remember where it came from. The only thing I did know was that it was a vampire and they had never gone inside Bella's house. That was the only reason I hadn't started hunting them down. Well that and I was a horrible tracker and Alice didn't foresee any danger for Bella.

Speaking of Alice, I could smell her and Jasper approaching. "Alice, Jasper," I greeted.

"Rose, Emmett," they said.

"Do you know why she wants us here?" I asked Alice. She shook her head, clearly upset.

"No, she hasn't made a decision about what she wants to say," she informed me. "I can't see the wolves so whatever was decided there I missed." She frowned. She was very upset she couldn't see the dogs.

"Jacob was nice enough," Emmett told us. I was actually glad Bella called him to pick her up. He was the one that could have dealt with them the best. "I get the feeling he sees Bella as a sister so there's no competition."

Good, I didn't want to have to kill Bella's friend for trying to steal her from me. A familiar noise caught my attention. I cocked my head to the side and listened. It was Bella's truck. I walked out of the wood; the others close behind so I could meet with whoever was driving her truck back.

I walked up to the house as he pulled into the driveway. The boy was familiar. It took only seconds for me to figure out who he was. Jacob Black, Bella's friend and the boy who showed up to prom last spring. He was sent to warn Bella about Edward, about all of us. He was also the one who told Bella about us, thus breaking the treaty. "Jacob," I greeted politely.

"Rosalie, I presume," he said, climbing out of Bella's truck.

"Yes," I agreed, holding my breath as much as possible. I would remain civil to him but he really did smell horrible.

"Did she talk to you yet?" he questioned.

"No," I said. So he knew whatever it was that Bella was going to tell us.

"Sam wants to talk to you, all of you," Jacob informed us. "After you have a chance to talk to her. Bella has my number. You can call me and arrange a meeting."

"Care to tell us why Sam wants a meeting with us?" Emmett asked. Jacob handed me the keys to Bella's truck. It wasn't really necessary. He could have left them in the truck. No one was going to steal that piece of junk.

Jacob hesitated before answering, "No. It's best that she tells you. Don't worry you shouldn't have to wait too long. She was planning on telling you tonight." I glanced at Jasper but he was too focused on Jacob to pay me any attention. He walked toward the woods and stopped at the edge. "She needs to get the oil changed in her truck. You can have her bring it to me sometime and I'll change it for her."

I nodded. I could easily change the oil myself but I wanted to be polite. When he was gone I turned to the others. "Should we go see her?" I asked.

"Not yet," Emmett said after glancing at her window. "She said she would open her window when she was ready for us."

I stared at her window, willing it to open. Finally after ten minutes the window flew open and I was greeted with Bella's sweet scent. I felt a slight spike in my desire for her blood, no doubt from Jasper, but it wasn't too bad. If anything it was normal for him.

We had spent the day testing Bella's theory at the hospital and found she was right. Our bloodlust affected him and made his ten times worse. Now that we figured that out we just had to work with him and allow him to get used to the smell of human blood.

The four of us agreed that I would help Jasper first as my bloodlust was the lowest compared to Alice and Emmett's. After Jasper was able to handle being with me around human blood we planned on alternating between Alice and Emmett being with him and then slowly add more than one of us at one time. It would be a long process but hopefully given time Jasper wouldn't be as uncomfortable.

Bella's window being open meant she was ready for us so I jumped up and into her room. One by one the others followed. "Hello Bella," I said softly so I didn't scare her. She wasn't facing the window, instead sitting at her desk with her back to us.

As I stood here in Bella's room, knowing that she knew the truth about my feelings, I felt more nervous than I would like to admit. The uncertainty of the situation made my dead heart ache in anticipation. As far as I know a vampire had never been turned down by their mate. Then again a vampire never had a human for a mate, at least not that I knew of. I would never force Bella to be with me but if she rejected me I wouldn't survive. A vampire never survives the loss of their mate.

Bella spun around in her desk chair. Her eyes briefly met mine before focusing on the others. I swallowed hard. I had bad feeling about this. She was mad at me. I wasn't sure why. There were multiple possibilities. The two most likely were she was mad because I didn't tell her or she was mad because I didn't tell her and she didn't like that we shared a bed while she slept.

"Hey Alice and Jasper," Bella said, getting up and hugging them. She pulled away from them and turned back towards me and Emmett. I gulped. "Hello Rosalie, Emmett."

"Hey Bells," Emmett greeted cheerfully completely oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Is everything alright Bella?" Alice asked concerned. "I can't see what you want to tell us. Come to think of it, I can't see anything."

"I learned how to get around your visions," Bella said. I could feel the pride in her voice. "But I didn't realize your visions were completely blocked."

"Alice can't see the wolves," Jasper explained. "I'm assuming they're somehow involved?"

Bella nodded. "Jacob's in the woods near here. I asked him to make a decision to come here in twenty minutes," she explained. "I figured you would be distracted by him and wouldn't focus on me."

"Bella," I said. "What do you have to tell us?" I was afraid to know what she could possibly say. I couldn't understand why she would go to such extreme lengths to make sure we didn't hear about it before she told us.

She looked at me again. There was something in her eyes, I couldn't explain it and I couldn't tell what she was thinking or feeling. "Promise me you won't overreact to what I'm about to tell you," she said. Though she spoke to all of us she was looking straight at me. She must have suspected I would react the worst to whatever she was going to say.

"I promise," the four of us said at the same time.

Bella sat on the edge of her bed. "Sam told me a vampire was here in Forks, attacking hikers," Bella began. "It's Victoria. Victoria is back."

The eyes of my brothers and sister went straight to me. Well now I know she made me promise not to overreact. Every fiber in my being was telling me to leave and hunt the bitch down but I promised my mate I wouldn't overreact.

As I fought my instinct's to leave I realized that it was Victoria's scent that I had noticed around Bella's house. I knew it was vaguely familiar. Like everyone else I had been more focused on James when they had come to the clearing the year before.

During the time I was supposed to be luring Victoria away from my Bella I was too busy focused on the fact that Edward was taking her away. I was furious that day. I was ready to kill him. I knew the real reason he was trying to get her away. He wanted her away from me. Lucky for him Alice had volunteered her and Jasper to go with them.

Emmett and Jasper were growling. "She won't touch you," Emmett swore. I glared at him. It was my job to protect her and defend her, not his.

Alice was frowning in frustration. "I can't see anything regarding Victoria. She must be using the wolves to block my visions."

Emmett groaned. "So we have no idea what she is planning," he said, clearly frustrated.

Jasper looked at me and sighed. "Let it out Rose," he said softly. "I know your dying to."

"I warned him," I hissed angrily. "I told Edward we had to get rid of her. They were mated. He knew she would want revenge." I was pacing back and forth; calling my idiotic brother as many derogatory names as I could think of and that was quite a few.

Edward would never allow harm to come to Bella. At least I don't think so. His recent actions were telling me otherwise. The reason he had left her was to keep her away from me. While he would never hurt Bella I knew that curtsey did not extend to me. He would love nothing more than to get me out of the picture.

"Sam wants you to contact him," Bella said looking at me. "He said something about not being able to hunt for Victoria in Forks and was hoping to get permission."

I glanced at Jasper. He was the calmest out of us and I really wanted a chance to speak to Bella. "I'll do it," Jasper volunteered. "Do you have a number I can contact them with?"

Bella got up and grabbed her cell phone. She walked over and handed it to Jasper. "I have Jacob's number," Bella said. "He can talk to Sam."

Jasper quickly saved Jacob's number in his own phone and handed hers back. "We will keep an eye on you until she's caught," he promised. Alice and Jasper left, presumably to call Jacob, leaving only me, Emmett and Bella.

"She loves you Rose," Jasper's voice called from outside the house. "She's just feeling angry and betrayed right now. Don't push her." I muttered a quick thanks to him and listened as they ran from the house.

"Emmett," Bella said turning to my brother. "Can I speak to Rosalie alone?"

Emmett looked between us and patted my shoulder before jumping out the window. "Bella," I started. I was going to explain everything but she stopped me.

"Don't," she said, sitting down on her bed. "I need to talk and I need you to listen." I nodded and waited for her to continue. I heard her take a deep breath before facing me again. "I don't understand why you didn't tell me the truth, even when I asked about your mate. I don't understand why I had to hear it from Emmett of all people and it was an accident."

I mentally winced at her words. "Edward used to hide things from me all the time," she continued. "He always said he was trying to protect me. I just… I thought you were different."

I flinched. That was below the belt. The sad part was I deserved it. I was trying to help her before I told her but I was wrong. I should have told her the truth as soon as I came back, especially when she kept asking questions.

"You can talk now," Bella said softly.

I opened my mouth to give off some speech about how I was nothing like Edward and I was different but all that came out was, "I'm sorry."

Bella looked at me in shock. I guess out of all the things she expected me to say an apology was not one of them. "I… I didn't expect you to apologize," she admitted. My dead heart broke at those words. I thought I proved how much I cared about her but I guess finding out the truth broke the small amount of trust she had in me.

"I never meant to lie to you," I continued. "You were so heartbroken when Edward left you. I just wanted you to get better, to realize you deserved more than that. You deserve an epic love, someone who treats you like an equal, someone who loves you more than life itself, whether that's with me," I swallowed hard, "my brother or someone else entirely."

Bella looked at me with a strange expression on her face. It made me wonder what I said wrong. "I thought vampires were selfish," Bella said frowning. "Edward said they were selfish, especially when it came to their mates, but you would let me be with someone else if that made me happy?"

I silently cursed Edward. "We are selfish in a way," I said slowly. "But our mate's happiness is the most important thing to us. It's different for you and me because you're human. Vampire's doesn't have a problem because they know the other person is their mate but you don't. You still have a choice, we don't."

"So you would let me walk away from you?" Bella asked.

"Yes but I would follow until you said not to," I said matter-of-factly.

Bella looked down. "I don't know why you bother," she whispered. She knew I could hear her but I wondered if she was hoping I wasn't listening to her. "I'm not good enough for you. I wasn't good enough for him. He doesn't love me, how could you?"

With the blink of an eye I was kneeling down in front of her. "Never say you are not good enough for me," I said sternly. "In many ways you are too good for me and you are far too good for him. Bella, Edward is nothing but a scared child. Do you want to know the real reason he left you?"

Bella glanced at me, tears and confusion in her chocolate brown eyes. "The real reason," she repeated.

"Yes," I said. She nodded slowly. "Edward left, and forced all of us to go, because he knew he was going to lose you. Ever since you moved to Forks and met us Alice has been have conflicted visions. In the beginning she saw us together, and then Edward started showing an interest in you and Alice's visions showed you two together. For the longest time her visions showed you and Edward together with the occasion vision of us together but last summer it started to change. She started to have more and more visions of you and I together and it was making Edward nervous. He knew we were supposed to be together but he refused to step aside and allow you to be with your mate. He said some… questionable things to me that I won't repeat because of how offensive they are."

I was still angry at him because of what he said. The names he called me, dyke and rug muncher, meant nothing to me. For years I assumed he was gay and Emmett and I had come up with some interesting nicknames for him. But the things he said… it got to the point where Alice and I had to hold Jasper and Emmett back to keep them from killing Edward.

Bella sat quietly while I started my explanation. Occasionally she would mumble something that I couldn't understand. "Why would he do that?" she whispered when I stopped talking. I wasn't sure what exactly she was referring to. "If he knew I was meant for you why wouldn't he let me go?"

"I have a few theories," I said. I got up and sat down next to her. "I think he really did love you and was afraid because he didn't want to lose you to me of all people. But your blood also called to him. I think he wanted to keep you close by so he could have a reminder of your blood, even if he couldn't drink it."

"So he left because Alice saw us together?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "The night of your birthday party, after Edward had taken you home, Alice's vision was crystal clear. You and I were going to be together though when was still uncertain. It would flicker back to you and Edward as he tried to make up his mind but even then the end result was the same and it angered him. He came up with a bogus story that he wanted to protect your soul so he could convince Carlisle and Esme to move before I could get the chance to tell them the truth."

"You never told Carlisle and Esme?" she asked sounding hurt. Damn it, now she thinks I'm ashamed of her.

I shook my head. "By the time I realized you were my mate Edward had gone off and told Carlisle and Esme you were his. I tried showing them that you two weren't meant to be together but they wouldn't listen. I knew the only way they would believe that you were my mate was if I could convince them Edward was lying. It's why we came back without telling them. They think I'm trying to interfere with Edward's mate."

"What does this mean for us?" Bella wanted to know. "For you and me, me and Edward and the rest of the family."

"It means whatever you want it to mean," I told her honestly. "We can take things slow if you want. I'm sure you are not ready for a relationship and I would never force you into one so we can take it one day at a time." I took a deep, unnecessary breath. "Maybe I could take you out on a date sometime."

"I still don't understand why you want me," Bella confessed. Well she hadn't rejected the date idea. "You're a goddess and I'm… I'm ordinary."

The little bit of self-control I had left went out the window as I listened to my mate berate herself again. I carefully studied her face before leaning over and pressing my cold, hard lips to her soft, warm lips. Those few seconds were pure bliss. My inner animal was purring in delight. Her body froze in shock and I could hear her heartbeat increase to the point where it wasn't safe. I was pleased, and somewhat scared, that it beat faster than it had when Edward kissed her. "You are anything but ordinary Isabella Swan," I muttered pulling away from her.

I glanced at her face half expecting a slap and a broken hand but neither came. She was staring in front of her with a glazed look in her eye, her mouth open in stunned silence.

Point for Team Rosalie.


	15. Chapter 15

_The pack is very OCC in this chapter. I did this in purpose as they are not the focus of the story and will not be in the entire story. I also wanted good wolves for a change._

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><p>Bella POV<p>

She kissed me. She freaking kissed me. Rosalie actually kissed me. The same thoughts were playing in my mind over and over again. It wasn't some stupid peck that Edward would give me before freaking out and claiming it was too dangerous. It was a real kiss, a kiss of passion, love, devotion… but maybe I was reading too much into it.

I couldn't even begin to wrap my mind around what had just happened, what was happening. I was so angry with Rosalie and with Alice, Jasper and Emmett, heck I was even mad at Edward, but when she got here the anger started to slip away.

Don't get me wrong. I was still mad at her but I wasn't as angry. I could understand why she did it. I was even grateful she cared enough to put my needs first. But she never should have lied to me. She should have told me but I couldn't help but wonder if I would be able to handle the truth then. Part of me was happy she didn't tell me. I didn't want to hurt her and if she had told me I probably would have rejected her because of Edward and I didn't want to know what would happen if I rejected her.

It took me several minutes to realize Rosalie was staring at me, waiting for me to say or do something but I couldn't move. I was still in shock. I could still feel her lips on mine. They were cold, like Edward's, but that's where the similarities ended. While Edward's lips were hard and rigid, hers were soft and relaxed. There was no fear or panic when she kissed me. She was confident and it was as if she knew she wouldn't hurt me. I could still feel her lip gloss on my mouth.

I wondered why she was so calm. Why she wasn't afraid of hurting me. Her control was good so that could be the reason. She was the only one other than Carlisle to never drink human blood and I wasn't her singer. I'm sure it's more than that though.

"Bella," she called softly. I don't know how long it had been since she kissed me.

"How did you do that?" I asked looking up at her.

"How did I kiss you?" she asked confused.

I shook my head. "No, how did you kiss me like that?" I rephrased. "Edward…" I trailed off when she started growling. Guess she didn't like hearing about Edward kissing me.

"You're not my singer Bella," she said. Well I was at least partly right. "You're blood doesn't call to me. It makes it easier to be close to you but that's not the only reason. I know I would never hurt you and I trust myself when I'm with you. Isabella, you will always be safe with me. It's impossible for me to cause you harm."

She touched my face with more pressure than Edward would use but it was comfortable. She knew exactly the right amount of pressure to use.

I fell forward, into her arms. I needed her close to me, closer than I ever needed her. Simply standing near her wasn't enough anymore. "Will you stay with me?" I mumbled against her shoulder. I wasn't ready for anything more intimate than what we had now but I wanted her to hold me while I slept like she had all those other nights.

"Of course my Bella," Rosalie said. She pulled me to my bed and gently laid me down before climbing next to me. I immediately turned into her, my head resting on her chest. "We're going to have to talk about Victoria sometime."

I tensed up and Rosalie started rubbing my back. "I won't let her hurt you," Rosalie whispered in my ear. "I will protect you, no matter what."

"I'm not scared for me," I told her honestly. "I'm scared for you and Emmett and Alice and Jasper."

"Why am I not surprised," Rosalie said sighing. It was one of the things that I was sure Rosalie both loved and hated about me but mostly hated. "Bella we will be fine. We have the strongest members of the family here. Victoria won't be able to touch us. Right now Jasper is talking to the wolves."

I tried hard to fight my yawn but it was no use. In a matter of minutes I was fast asleep.

"We came up with a plan," a male voice whispered. It sounded like Jasper.

"Well," Rosalie's voice said impatient. I felt around my bed, careful so they wouldn't notice, and found it empty.

"The dogs will patrol around Forks, specifically here," he said. "If someone gets wind of her we immediately call the other."

"That's your master plan?" Rosalie snorted.

"It's the best we can do right now," Jasper said.

"Rose," I muttered, before she could snap at Jasper for something that wasn't his fault.

Rosalie was by my side before I had a chance to sit up. "You should be sleeping," she muttered. Apparently the fight with Jasper was forgotten.

I shook my head. "Can't sleep," I said leaning toward her. She scooped me up and climbed onto my bed, hold me in her arms. I relaxed in her cool embrace. "How did it go with Jacob?" I wondered if they would tell me the truth or try and protect me.

"We agreed to _amend_ the treaty," Jasper said. "We've given them permission to hunt for Victoria on our land as well as killing any vampires that aren't part of our coven, the Denali's or Peter and Charlotte, in exchange for allowing Rosalie to accompany you to La Push when you go back. They agreed as long as she is with a pack member, and you, at all times."

I turned to Rosalie. "They really are letting you on the reservation?" I asked. Jasper would never lie about something like that but I didn't understand why they would change the treaty that much.

"So Jasper says," Rosalie commented as if she wasn't sure she believed it. "Not sure if I trust it. I wouldn't put it past them to start a war as soon as I step on their land."

Jasper shook his head. "No, they won't do that. Jacob views Bella as a sister. He wants her to be happy."

"Does he know about Rosalie and I?" I asked the two of them. I wondered what the pack's reaction would be if they found out. I knew Jacob and Billy didn't like Edward but would they like Rosalie?

"Yes," Jasper confirmed. "I had to tell them in order to convince them to allow Rosalie on their land." Was he trying to drive me crazy? Or did he like hearing me talk that much. "While they aren't happy you are mated to a vampire, they had hoped when Edward left you were done with them, they understand your bond with Rosalie."

I frowned. I was glad they weren't going to try and interfere or anything. It was nice they were all trying to get along. But why would they accept Rosalie and despise Edward? "Did they say why they disliked Edward so much?"

"Yes," Jasper said nodding. He sat down on my desk chair. "They always knew you didn't belong with Edward. I will let Jacob explain if and when he wants to but they have something similar to vampire mating. Billy could tell you weren't Edward's because of the way he treated you. They hate him now because he left you."

I turned my attention to Rosalie. She had her eyes closed and if I didn't know any better I would have thought she was sleeping. "When can you come with me to La Push?" I asked softly. "The beach is beautiful, you would love it."

Rosalie opened her eyes and smiled at me. "Anytime you want but you will have to tell Jacob ahead of time," she said. I studied her eyes and noticed they were dark gold, almost black.

"You need to hunt," I muttered, gently touching her face.

"I will," she said grabbing my head. "You aren't in any danger from me." I frowned. I didn't like her putting me before her own needs. My frown deepened when I realized that was the Cullens biggest complaint about me.

I know I should have forced her to go hunt but I didn't want her to leave. I never feared she would hurt me, or bite me but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable with me so close to her. Apparently it didn't bother her because she pulled me closer and start singing Faithfully.

As I drifted off to sleep for the second time that night I noticed Jasper jumping out my window.

"Jacob Black, lower your voice now," Rosalie hissed from across my room. Now what was going on? How long had I been asleep?

"Don't tell me what to do Blondie," he hissed back. I thought they got along what was going on?

"You're the one that came barging into Bella's room because you smelled Victoria five miles away," Rosalie growled. I opened one eye, checking to see if Rosalie was crouched down ready to attack but she looked perfectly relaxed in her spot. Jacob was shaking slightly but stopped after taking a deep breath.

"You're her mate," Jacob said slowly. "Why aren't you more worried?"

"Because Bella is safe in bed listening to the two of us argue," Rosalie said. I sat up as there was no use pretending I was asleep. "My brothers and sister are patrolling around this house along with your pack. Victoria will never get close to her."

"What if she does?" Jake asked softly. I almost missed the question.

I watched Rosalie's body turn to stone at the thought. "Then between your pack, me and my siblings we will take care of her," Rosalie swore fiercely.

I climbed out of bed and slipped out of the room while they debated my safety. I brushed my hair and teeth after using the restroom and slipped back into my room. Rosalie was gone when I returned but Jacob was still there. I looked around confused. "She went to go hunt," Jacob told me.

"Oh," I said. I should have known that. She hadn't hunted in a while. "Are you hungry? I can make breakfast."

"Breakfast sounds good," Jake agreed. He put his hands in his pockets and headed out of my room. As he walked out into the hallway I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, again.

Jake sat down in Charlie's chair while I prepared breakfast. "Jake," I said as I stuck the bacon into the frying pan. He looked up at me. "Can I bring Rosalie to La Push today?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment before nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "Tell her to meet us at the border in a couple hours. Call the others too. My Dad wants to have a bonfire tonight with your vampires."

I frowned as I grabbed a pan for eggs. Did they want to put Rose and the others on the bonfire? "We're not going to kill them," Jacob called. "My Dad thinks this will be a good way for everyone to bond and get along."

"Sounds reasonable," I said cracking the eggs. They sizzled in the pan and I turned my attention back to the bacon. "Do you want pancakes?"

"Please," Jacob said getting up. I tore my eyes away from the cooking food to get the ingredients for pancakes. I preferred making homemade pancakes but there wasn't really time. When I turned Jacob already had a measuring cup and bag of mix.

"There are chocolate chips in the cabinet if you want chocolate chip pancakes," I said. Jake sat the things down so he could grab the chocolate chips. "Should I bring something tonight?"

Jacob shook his head. "No, we will take care of everything," he assured me. "I don't think you could afford to feed all of us," he added laughing.

"You're right," I laughed. My measly bank account could never pay for food for all the guys.

Jacob set the table while I finished up the food. I served us both and sat down across from him to eat. "Are we going to talk about your fight with Rosalie?" I asked.

"It wasn't a fight," Jacob protested. A piece of bacon was inches from his mouth. He dropped the piece to focus on our conversation. "It was just a heated discussion."

"She does care," I said looking out the window. There was not a single doubt in my mind that she cared about me. But I had to admit I still wasn't sure about her loving me.

"I know," he said sighing. "I'm just… scared you know. She's able to hide from us so easily. Jasper thinks it is her gift but that makes it worse."

"They told you about their gifts?" I asked surprised. I never expected them to do that. I figured Jasper would want to keep that a secret.

"Yes," Jacob said nodding. "We know about Jasper and Alice's gifts and Jasper mentioned Edward's and what they thought was Victoria's gift."

Jacob cleaned up the kitchen while I showered and got ready to go. While my hair was wrapped up in the towel I called Rosalie and asked her to meet us at the border. I sent a text to Jasper, Alice and Emmett telling them they were invited to the bonfire tonight and we would pick them up at the border later that evening.

I drove to La Push. I remembered hearing my truck pull into the driveway yesterday. I was grateful Jacob brought it before Charlie came home so I didn't have to explain that to him. "You need the oil changed," Jacob commented. How he knew that I will never know but I took his word for it. "I can do it while we are in La Push." I agreed. It made sense for it to done then, otherwise I would have asked Rosalie to do it.

Rosalie was standing on the side of the road when we got to the border. I stopped the truck, long enough for her to jump into the back, and proceeded to Jacob's house. "Hey," she said when we climbed out of the truck. I tossed Jacob the keys so he could move it wherever he wanted it so he could change the oil.

"Hi," I said hugging her. It was weird having her here. I never imagined a Cullen would be allowed in La Push. I wonder what Edward, Carlisle and Esme would think about it. Then again they weren't invited and would probably never know about this.

Her eyes were gold again. I liked it much better than the black. "Jacob is changing the oil in my truck," I told her as she watched him drive my truck to his workshop.

I led her to the shop and she looked around while Jacob worked. "Are these the bikes?" she asked, pointing to the two motorcycles I bought.

"Yeah," Jacob said walking over to the cabinet and pulling out the oil he needed. "Haven't had much time to work on them but I'm going to try to get them finished soon."

Rosalie was inspecting the bikes, something I'm sure she had been dying to do since she found out about them. She poked around, muttering too herself. I wasn't sure how her inspection was going but she didn't seem upset so I guessed Jake was doing a good job. "This is good," she finally said. She sounded impressed at his work though I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Thanks," Jake mumbled embarrassed. He grabbed what looked to be an old worn out t-shirt and wiped his hands on it. "All done."

"Thanks Jake," I said grateful.

"Anytime," he said. "Come on, my Dad wants to meet you." He led Rosalie and I to the house. I had been here many times but it was different this time. It seemed like everyone was moving on past their prejudices. Then again that might be an overstatement. Once Victoria was dead they would most likely go back to the way they were before this began. I hope at least Jake and Rosalie could be friends even after all of this was over.

Billy was waiting for us when we got inside the house. He was even polite to Rosalie which was odd. As far as I know he had only met Edward and Carlisle and Billy despised both of them. Well he despised Edward and didn't like Carlisle. So this was weird to see. "Sit, please," Billy said gesturing to the couch.

Rosalie and I sat on the couch while Jake went to the kitchen for even more food. My eyes widened in surprise. He had just eaten. I had just eaten and I felt stuffed. "Wolves metabolism goes ten times faster than a human's," Billy explained. "On a normal day they eat quite a bit but when you add phasing and running they consume more food than an entire football team."

"Now Jacob mentioned something that Jasper mentioned to the pack," Billy continued once Jacob stopped banging around in the kitchen. I was confused but Rosalie sat patiently waiting for him to continue. Billy turned his chair so he was facing Rosalie. "It's about vampire mating."

Rosalie nodded in understanding and I finally understood. They only reason they were being nice to Rosalie was because I was mated to her and I was close to Jacob. "What is it you want to know?" Rosalie asked politely.

"Bella is your mate, correct?" Billy asked. Rosalie nodded. "You would do anything for her?" Again Rosalie nodded. "Even die for her?" Rosalie nodded one last time, with no hesitation. My heart started beating out of control at the thought of Rosalie dying and she grabbed my hand to calm me.

"It seems I was wrong about you," Billy said finally. "I thought you were nothing but soulless creatures that felt nothing but the craving of blood but it is clear to me you love her. The pack would be honored to work alongside your family, however Edward Cullen will never be allowed on our land."

"Why?" I asked confused.

Billy turned his attention to me. "When I first saw him I didn't trust him," he started to explain. "Whenever I saw him with you I saw a protectiveness that isn't associated with someone you love. It was like he was a predator and he was protecting his kill."

Rosalie frowned. I think she was considering the possibility. "You may be right about my brother," Rosalie said. "I can't be sure though. He's never liked the idea of me being with Bella and has actively tried to keep us apart, going as far as to leave and make us follow. As you can see it didn't work out too well for him."

"Sam, as the Alpha of the pack, has agreed to let you on our land," Billy said. I had a feeling it was more for my benefit since Jasper already told her about this. "I'm under the impression you wanted to ask me something."

"You're the Elder then?" Rosalie questioned. What was going on here?

"One of them," Billy said. "My word is considered law since Ephraim Black, the last Alpha, was my grandfather."

"I want your permission to change Bella," Rosalie told him. My jaw dropped in shock. Not only was she considering changing me but she was also asking for permission.

Billy and Jake had the same expression I did. Jake's mouth was wide open, showing off the half chewed food. "You want to change Bella," Billy repeated. Rosalie nodded and Billy looked at me.

"It's no secret I despise this life," Rosalie continued. "But I love her and I want her forever. If this is what Bella wants, what she truly wants, then I will do it for her. I would rather have permission first so I can protect my family but if necessary I will take Bella far from here before I bite her. You would never see her again and you would never know when I did it."

Billy frowned. This was going against his nature but it looked as if he was considering it. "Bella," he said looking at me. "Is this what you want?"

This was the second time someone asked me this, the first being Rosalie, and I was grateful, before Edward had refused to consider my position. "Yes, Billy it is. I've always wanted to be a vampire."

Billy rubbed his forehead. "I will give you permission under one condition," Billy said. Rosalie waited for him to continue. "You wait as long as possible before you change her. Life and death situation would be better but… I don't want Bella getting hurt so I say this. Give her a chance to be human. If and when you decide to do this, and she still wants it, then you have my blessing to change her."

"Thank you," Rosalie said. I had never heard so much emotion in her voice before, especially regarding me being changed.

When it started to get dark Jacob drove my truck back to the border, to pick up the others, with me in the passenger seat. Rosalie was once again in the standing back of the truck.

Emmett, Jasper and Alice were waiting for us at the border, much like Rosalie had been. Alice had a frown on her face, probably upset because she couldn't see anything.

I felt the truck move as they jumped into the back. Once Jacob was sure they were all there he turned around and drove back to his house. He mentioned we were going to walk to the bonfire from there.

I left my keys in the truck when we got back to Jake's house. As we walked through the woods I watched my vampire family. All four of them paid very close attention to their surroundings. I wondered if they were uncomfortable at all.

Rosalie held my hand while we walked. I wasn't exactly sure why she had done that but figured it was a mixture between wanting an excuse to hold my hand and keeping me from falling on my face, for which I was very grateful. The last thing I needed to do was start bleeding around four vampires. I doubt that would help relations between the vampires and the wolves.

"Here we are," Jacob announced as we got to the beach. The fire pit already had a fire going and all the guys seemed to be there. I could even see Billy talking to a man I didn't know. "That's Quil Ateara III," Jacob said. "He's my friend Quil's grandfather and one of the Elders along with my Dad and Harry Clearwater."

Jacob led us over to Billy and Quil and I felt strangely out of place beside Rosalie. My pale skin was nothing compared to my vampire families but still far paler than the others. Everyone stopped talking as we moved closer to Billy and Quil. I could feel all of their eyes on me and it was making me nervous.

"You are here, good," Billy said turning his wheelchair around. "Everyone gather around."

I was amazed by how everyone listened to Billy. They all gathered around the fire, except for Emily and another girl who were busy getting food ready. "That's Kim," Jacob whispered to me. "Jared's girlfriend."

"Tonight is a big night for us," Billy said. "For the first time since our ancestor's before us we have come together with our enemies."

I watched Rosalie, Jasper, Alice and Emmett's faces to see how they would react. Rosalie didn't seem to be affected by the comment while Alice and Emmett made faces. I think Emmett wanted to be friends with them so he had more wrestling buddies. Jasper looked like he was concentrating but I was sure what on. My guess was their emotions, trying to figure out if there was a chance a war could break out. I hoped not.

"As most of you know," Billy continued. "Charlie Swan is an honorary member of the Quileute tribe and through him so is Bella." My eyes widened in shock, I had no idea. "Rosalie here," Billy pointed her out, "is Bella's mate; therefore we treat her and her family with the respect they deserve as they are protecting members of our tribe."

"How do we know the leech is really mated to her?" Paul sneered. It seems Paul didn't suddenly like the Cullens.

"You know nothing about my sister," Emmett said through his teeth. He was trying hard not to pounce on Paul.

"Paul enough," Sam commanded. "You have not questioned my love for Emily, or Jared's for Kim. Their love is the same even if she is a vampire."

Paul looked angry but didn't say anything. "Alpha command," Jacob explained quietly. "We have to obey Sam no matter what. Don't worry about Paul, he's just an ass."

Rosalie chuckled from her spot next to me. "Foods ready," Emily called. The boys jumped up and ran to the table. The argument between Sam and Paul was forgotten. Emily and Kim brought over plates for Billy, Harry and myself.

"Thanks," I said grateful. I would rather not get trampled by a bunch of hungry werewolves. Billy wheeled over to us and handed Rosalie a paper bag.

"I thought it would be rude to eat in front of you all," Billy said. "So I stopped by the butcher and got some blood for you."

Rosalie's eyes widened in surprise, "This is very kind of you." Rosalie said, passing a small container to each of her siblings.

Billy shrugged and wheeled away. Emmett sipped the blood and made a face. "What's wrong with Emmett?" I questioned.

"It's pig blood," Rosalie whispered back, quiet enough so no one would overhear us. "It doesn't taste very good, carnivores taste the best, but it was nice of him to try." I nodded and avoided watching them as they drank the packaged blood.

Everyone was enjoying their food, or blood in the Cullens case, until Alice dropped her container. It got dead silent in a matter of seconds except a comment from Paul about the Cullens fighting over the spilt blood. Jasper was crouched down in front of Alice. "What is it Alice?" he asked urgently.

"It's Victoria," Alice muttered. I was leaning on Rosalie trying to listen to the conversation.

"What about Victoria?" Sam asked stepping toward Alice. Jasper let off a warning growl.

"Don't move Sam," Emmett instructed. "Jasper gets very protective when Alice is like this. Just let him do his thing."

Sam backed away. "Alice," Jasper said stroking her cheek. "What did you see?"

Alice shook her head. "I can't tell," she whispered. "Something bad is going to happen but I can't tell what it is. She knows how to get around my visions." She rubbed her head and I wondered if vampires can get headaches.

"Well she's not near here," Emmett muttered. "Otherwise you wouldn't be able to see anything. So whatever she's planning, wherever she is, it happens away from La Push, maybe even away from Forks."

Rosalie rubbed my back. "Relax your hand," she whispered in my ear. "Before you break it." I blushed when I realized I was holding her hand so hard my knuckles had turned white. I let her hand go and she took my hand in hers and started to massage it.

"We will add to the patrols," Sam announced. A few groans were heard.

"No," I said shaking my head. "You all can't keep watching me. You have your own lives to live."

"Bella," Rosalie said but I shook my head again.

"No," I said firmly. "It's bad enough you are all risking your lives for me."

"Bella it's our fault you are in this mess in the first place," Jasper said. "We should have taken care of Victoria sooner but some people didn't think that was necessary." It was obvious he was referring to Edward and Carlisle. Carlisle hated the thought of killing anything, even another vampire, and I'm sure he would have argued against hunting Victoria down. "I knew better but I did what they said, an action I will regret from the rest of my existence."

Rosalie got up and went to Jasper. "It is not your fault brother," she said hugging him. "I should have gone after her too but we will end this and Victoria will never harm Bella or anyone else."

After dinner finished everyone gathered around. I wasn't sure why until Quil started to tell their legends, including the story of the Cold Ones and imprinting. The Cullens didn't react when the Cold Ones were mentioned but I'm sure the story affected them more than they let on. I was certain Jasper and Rosalie, and probably Emmett and Alice, would react exactly the same as that vampire woman had.

I was exhausted by the time the bonfire had concluded. Rosalie ended up carrying me after I tripped twice in a row. Jacob walked us to the border; my truck was going to stay at his house as he wanted to check a few more things on it. As soon as we hit the imaginary line the Cullens took off running.

I felt a lot safer in Rosalie's arms as we ran back to my house. She wasn't as fast as Edward which was nice and she didn't try and show off or scare me by running as close to the trees as possible without hitting them.

It seemed as if Rosalie was going out of her way to avoid getting too close to things so it didn't scare me. For the first time I was able to watch as I ran with a vampire, or a vampire ran with me, and I had to say it was the best experience I had ever had. Now I understood why Edward loved to run so much and why they all loved fast cars. I felt like I could run with Rosalie forever and never get tired of it.

My head rattled as we jerked to a stop. "Something's wrong," Rosalie whispered loud enough for me to hear. I think it was her way of not keeping secrets from me anymore. I liked it. I would rather know the truth, no matter how bad than be lied to in the name of protection.

"What is it?" I asked. The others tensed up as I spoke.

"Emmett, keep Bella out here," Jasper instructed. Emmett wrapped his arms around his waist. Jasper nodded toward Rosalie and the three of them went into my house.

"Emmett, what's going on?" I asked him. As soon as my front door had opened he froze.

"I don't know for sure," Emmett said. I guess Emmett wasn't on the 'tell Bella the truth' bandwagon.

Emmett was so focused on whatever was going on in the house I managed to break free of his grasp and run into my house. By the time he realized what had happened it was too late. I was inside.

I could smell the salt and rust before I was anywhere close to it. My heart was beating out of control as I walked closer to the voices that were coming from the kitchen. "What am I supposed to tell her?" Rosalie hissed angrily.

"It's too late Rose," Alice said as I walked into the kitchen. Rosalie had been so distracted she didn't notice I had come in.

I gasped in horror at the sight before me. There was blood all over the floor and right in the middle was Charlie. "No," I yelled running to his side. He couldn't be dead, not because of me. This was all my fault.

I frowned as I had my head on my dead father's chest. I could hear a faint heartbeat. Charlie was still alive! It seemed Jasper realized it just as I had. "He's still alive," Jasper said in awe. I was surprised and proud at how controlled Jasper was at this moment.

"What?" Rosalie said whipping toward us. She turned to Alice as Emmett came into the kitchen. He stood at the entrance and I tore my eyes away from Charlie long enough to see he was slightly uncomfortable. "How did you not see this?"

"Charlie's future is black right now," Alice said softly. "I wasn't looking for Charlie's future before so I didn't see this happen."

"Rose," I said softly. I don't know how long Charlie had but I had to save him. "Change him please," I begged.

Rosalie stared at me hesitantly and I knew why. She hated this life and didn't want to condemn anyone to it. She agreed to change me because I was her mate and she was being selfish, in her opinion, since it was what I wanted. But Charlie didn't want this, well he didn't know about it so it was hard to tell if he wanted it. "Please," I begged. "I can't let him die because of me."

Rosalie looked like she wanted to protest but was too preoccupied. "You can do it Rose," Alice whispered. "But you need to do it now. We have to go and he doesn't have long."

Rosalie nodded and knelt down beside us. She gently cupped my face and leaned forward and gently kissed my lips. I could barely feel her lips touch mine. "Go stand beside Alice please," she instructed softly.

I got up and went to Alice's side like Rose wanted and I watched as she bit his neck and each wrist. I was worried for Rosalie as she changed my father into a vampire. I didn't want her to be uncomfortable. "She's fine," Jasper said sensing my worry. "She's in complete control."

Rosalie stood up a few seconds later and wiped the blood on her clothes. "It's done," she announced.


	16. Chapter 16

Rosalie POV

The blood in the room was overwhelming to say the least. It was everywhere and it assaulted my senses like nothing I had ever experienced. The only thing keeping me, and my siblings, from draining what was left of Charlie was the fact that he was Bella's father and she would hate us. I couldn't do that to Bella and neither could my siblings.

I looked around the room after I finished biting him. I wiped the blood from my mouth. We didn't have much time. Alice had said we only had a couple of hours to get out of here and there was so much to do still.

My clothes were covered in blood as were Bella's. We needed to get changed and burn the clothes. That was just the beginning. "Emmett," I said turning to my brother. "Can you get Charlie upstairs and get him out of those bloody clothes?" Having a newborn wear bloody clothes was not a good idea. After Emmett was changed we left him in his clothes as we didn't have clothes for him and he destroyed the house trying to get to what was left of his blood.

Emmett nodded, pulled Charlie off the ground and took him upstairs. Bella watched Emmett leave with her father. We had about thirty minutes before the venom reached his heart and the pain began. Charlie had to be out of the house and on the road by then.

"Bella," I said turning to my traumatized mate. My dead heart broke at her reaction to Charlie and I would do anything to see her smile again, anything to get that haunted look off her face. "We need to get you out of the bloody clothes and into the shower."

"Rose I can take her," Alice said.

I shook my head. "I'll do it," I said. I could even bring myself to react to the idea of Alice seeing my mate naked. "Can you get me and Bella some clothes?" Alice nodded and ran out of the house, to Port Angeles for my clothes. I made a decision to call her and ask her to pack up what she could from my apartment so she would get a vision and already know. Satisfied that it worked I turned to Jasper.

"I'll get Charlie's clothes and anything he may want to keep packed up. Then I'll get some gasoline so we can stage his death," Jasper said. He was uncomfortable being around all this blood and was fighting his desire to drink it. I was proud of him. It seemed our practice did wonders for him.

Jasper left the room and I pulled Bella into my arms, covering myself with even more blood. I focused on her heartbeat and breathing so I wasn't tempted by the blood. The good part was Charlie's blood only held half the temptation to me as a normal human as his blood smelled very similar to Bella's. It wasn't quite as floral as Bella's. I would never tell Charlie, so he could keep his masculinity intact, but his blood was almost fruity.

I carried Bella to the bathroom and carefully shut the door so I didn't startle her. She hadn't spoken since she begged me to save him and it scared me. It was almost as if she were catatonic, like when I found her in the woods. "Don't push her," Jasper muttered from Charlie's bedroom. "She's still processing everything. She will talk when she's ready."

Emmett could be heard ripping Charlie's bloody clothes off and tossing them aside. He ran out of the room and filled a bucket with water so he could wash the blood away. Every few seconds he would run back to the kitchen to clean out the towel and bucket.

Leaving the bathroom door unlocked, as no one was stupid enough to come in here when I was taking care of Bella, I carried Bella to the shower. "Bella we need to get your clothes off," I whispered softly. The last thing I wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

Bella didn't say anything, she just nodded. The clothes were already ruined and needed to be burned but I gently took them off and threw them aside with more force than necessary. I didn't want Bella to see Charlie like that but in a way it was good that she did, otherwise we might not have realized Charlie was alive in time.

I focused on my task, only slightly aware of how beautiful Bella was. Right now was about getting her clean of all the blood, not my desire to make her mine. I easily removed the rest of her clothes and gently sat her down in the bathtub. My plan was to fill the bathtub with water and let her wash the blood off herself as I didn't want to make her any more uncomfortable then she already was.

I started to fill the tub and once it was done I got up to leave the room. Before I could move a step Bella grabbed my hand. "Don't leave," she whispered. If I wasn't a vampire I probably wouldn't have heard her.

"Okay," I promised, moving closer to her. I took off my shoes and socks and sat on the edge of the bathtub again with my feet in the water. Bella still had ahold of my hand and she gently tugged it. She wanted me to get into the bath with her.

I took my jacket off and climbed into the tub behind Bella. I felt her warm, naked body against my clothes and closed my eyes. It was comfortable here, despite still being dressed, which was probably for the best since I didn't want her to freeze.

Bella played with the edge of my shirt and I wondered what was going through her mind. "Your clothes are bloody," she commented. I shrugged against her. I would take care of it later, after I took care of Bella. "You should take them off."

I stopped breathing. Was she really implying what I think she was? I didn't think so. I mean she hadn't even told me how she felt about me, though Jasper was convinced she loved me. Did she want sex or was it something else? Not that it mattered. Even if she didn't want to be with me, if she asked for sex I would do it. If nothing else it would give me one night of pure bliss.

"It's not what you think," Jasper's voice called. I didn't know whether to be happy or angry at him for interrupting this moment. "She wants closeness. She's scared and blaming herself for what happened. She's… I don't know how I can explain it without hurting you but…don't reject or it will break her."

Whatever it was Jasper wasn't saying had to be bad. He wasn't one to hold back information and it was possible Alice saw something and warned him. So I did what Bella suggested. I stripped my bloody clothes off and tossed them aside before climbing into the bathtub with her.

Bella leaned back against me. "Are you uncomfortable?" she asked.

I shook my head. I was anything but uncomfortable. I don't think I have been so comfortable in my life. Just sitting here with her, the feel of her bare skin against mine was unlike anything I ever experienced.

There was nothing sexual about this but I couldn't deny the intimacy of the situation. It was nice here, like everything going on didn't exist outside this room. It was as if the world stopped. I grabbed the soap and lathered up my hands before rubbing Bella's arms, removing the evidence of what happened to Charlie. "This is all my fault," Bella muttered. I don't think she meant for me to hear it but I did.

"No it isn't," I said fiercely, tilting her head up so she was forced to look at me. "You didn't know Victoria would go after Charlie and you have done everything you could to keep him safe."

"I'm sorry," Bella mumbled.

"Sorry for what love?" I asked, washing the soap off. She smiled slightly at the term of endearment and I made a mental note to use them more often.

"For forcing you to change Charlie, for asking you to stay in here, for making you have to leave again, take your pick," Bella said bitterly.

"Isabella," I whispered to her. "You have nothing to apologize for. I changed him because you asked and because I didn't want you to lose your father. I stayed in here with you because I wanted to and you are not forcing me to leave again and this time you are coming with me."

"What?" she asked shocked.

"Did you really think I would leave you in Forks?" I asked incredulously. She bit her lip and nodded. "Bella you are coming with us. I will never leave you behind again. Allowing Edward to run me out of town was the worst mistake I have ever made. I almost didn't go but I had to for everyone's safety."

"Are they listening?" Bella asked.

"They are trying hard not to but they can still hear us," I replied honestly. Jasper was paying closer attention than Emmett so he could focus on her emotions.

Bella blushed in embarrassment as she looked down. "I…" she couldn't get the words out.

I chuckled softly. "There's no need to be embarrassed love," I tried to assure her.

She ran her fingers down my arm. "But you're perfect, and I'm not."

"You are perfect," I muttered gently kissing her neck.

We sat quickly for a few minutes. The blood was off both of our bodies and I emptied out the water and replaced it with hot water. I was playing with Bella's hair when Jasper started growling. "She still thinks this is her fault," he told me.

Emmett growled from Charlie's bedroom. "It's not her fault," he said fiercely.

"I know," Jasper replied. He was tearing apart the house, as quietly and gently as possible, looking for things Charlie may want to keep. So far all he had were some photos and clothes. "But it's Bella. If a zombie apocalypse started she would blame herself for it. Alice will be here in forty-five minutes."

"What do we do now?" Bella asked me.

"Well Alice will be back soon with Emmett's jeep and some clothes for me. Jasper and Alice will take Charlie away while we pack your stuff, and any things you think Charlie may want to keep that Jasper missed," I began. "Then we will leave too. You will have to stay away from Charlie for a while until he gets some control. We can figure out, later, if he can be in the same room as you without trying to attack. Ah, damn." I realized Charlie needed an ID. We had Bella's all ready but I never thought about getting Charlie one.

I could hear Jasper phone buzzing from the kitchen. It sounded like he was getting snacks together for Bella. "Alice said she's taking care of it. The IDs and birth certificates will be sent to Peter and Charlotte's. They will arrive before we do."

"What's wrong?" Bella asked twisting around so she could face me.

"Nothing," I said. "Alice took care of it." Bella looked confused. "We need a new identity for Charlie. We have to fake his death here. There's enough blood in the kitchen to make it look like he bled out. Jasper will burn the house to the ground, so it can explain no body. We will do the same for you."

"What's his name going to be?" Bella asked curious. "And where will we go?"

"We are going to Texas," I announced. "Jasper's close friends live there and they will help with your dad. His name… I'm not entirely sure. Most likely Charlie, or Charles, Whitlock."

"It's going to be McCarty," Jasper told me.

"Never mind," I said dismissing my previous statement. "Jasper says it will be McCarty."

Bella frowned. "Why McCarty?" she asked confused.

"It was Emmett's human last name," I explained. "I used to go by that name when Emmett and I would go to college and pretend to be married."

"Do I get a new identity?" Bella questioned.

I nodded. "You won't be able to use Cullen, but I'm not too sure you would want to." She shook her head. "Jasper had several names made for you. One is Isabella Marie McCarty, then there's Isabella Marie Whitlock, Jasper's human last name, and finally Bella Marie Hale."

"Your name," Bella said stating the obvious. "Which one will I use?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure, most likely McCarty though as Jasper and I will probably use Whitlock this time around. I'll try to convince them to go back to school, if it works you, Alice and Emmett will be McCarty, adoptive siblings and Jasper and I will be twins again."

"So we could actually graduate together?" Bella asked.

"I guess so," I said. I hadn't thought about that. Bella shivered and I decided it was time to get out. "Come on, it's too cold in here for you." I could hear Jasper placing clothes for Bella outside the door. I had no doubt Alice texted him and told him what to pick out.

Bella nodded and struggled to stand up. I chuckled at my human and stood up, pulling her with me. She glanced at my body and blushed, as if she just realized we were both naked, which was possible as she was out of it for a while.

I climbed out of the tub and wrapped myself up with the nearest towel before handing one to her. While Bella dried herself off I pulled the door open and grabbed her clothes. Looking at them I sighed. It was a black halter top and skin tight blue jeans that Alice bought for her before we left. Along with the clothes Bella would never willingly wear was a lacy thong and matching black bra. I had to admit I would love to see Bella wearing this, and if it was under different circumstances I would have a hard time keeping my hands to myself.

I handed her the clothes, watching as her eyes widened in horror. "I can't wear these," she said shaking her head. She tried to hand them back but I wouldn't take them.

"Alice isn't going to let you get out of wearing those," I said. I wanted her to be comfortable but there was no way I could win an argument with Alice, not when she is like this, and now really wasn't the time to try.

Bella sighed and turned away from me so she could get dressed. "I'll give you some privacy," I said, exiting the bathroom before she could say anything.

I found Jasper in Charlie's room with Emmett and a quiet Charlie. "He hasn't made a sound yet," I said in awe. Emmett was the only person I had watched being changed but he had thrashed around, and screamed, for two days straight. I had screamed in pain during my change, though it was pointless. I couldn't figure out how Charlie was doing it.

"I've kept him unconscious," Jasper said answering my unspoken question. "We don't want him alerting the neighbors to what's happening. I'll hold it for as long as I can but I can't be with him the entire time, eventually he will feel the pain."

I nodded. Jasper was already doing more than I would have asked of him but it was much appreciated. "How's the packing going?" I asked.

It was Emmett who answered. "We got pictures and Charlie's fishing gear packed up," he said. "We're not sure what else he would want to keep. Jazz got some food set aside for Bella. We figured the sooner we got out of Washington the better. Who knows when we will be able to stop."

"When Alice gets here load the stuff in the jeep and go," I told Jasper. "We need Charlie gone as soon as possible. Emmett and I will get Bella's stuff together and take my car as soon as we can. We will meet you in Texas."

"Where will I stay?" Bella asked from the hallway. We turned around to look at her. I didn't even notice she had finished getting dressed. "My dad's staying with Alice, Jasper and his friends, so where will I be?"

I looked to Jasper. That hadn't been decided yet so I wasn't sure. I could buy a house or apartment close by for us. "You guys can use my house," Jasper offered. I had forgotten Jasper owned his own home in Texas, a home that Carlisle, Esme and Edward knew nothing about. If I wasn't mistaken it was his human home, and property, but Jasper had remodeled it. It wasn't as extravagant as the homes Esme liked to remodel but from what Alice said it was still very nice.

"You don't have to do that," I told him. That home meant more to him than anything, except maybe his Civil War memorabilia. It was the reason he never told Esme about it. He didn't want her to come in and change everything.

"I don't have to," Jasper agreed. "But I want to. It's next to Peter and Charlotte's house and it's in a good location. There is no one I would rather have stay in my family home."

"Thanks," I said gratefully. I turned to Bella. "You and I will stay at Jasper's house, with Emmett, assuming he can behave." Emmett grinned sheepishly.

"Peter and Charlotte can play parents for Bella," Jasper told us. Bella had to go back to school and I would join her since there was no where I would rather be than with her.

I heard Alice pull into the driveway with Emmett's jeep. It was show time. I looked down. Well show time was going to have to wait till I got some clothes on. Alice left the jeep running as she ran into the house. "Here," she said handing me some clothes. "I'll put the rest of your bags in the living room."

"Thanks," I said. I got dressed as Emmett carried Charlie to the jeep and Jasper loaded up his belongings. Bella stayed in Charlie's bedroom with me but avoided looking at me.

"I'm going to the house to get your car," Emmett told me just as I finished buttoning my top. "Then I can load up your bags while you help Bella get her stuff. Jasper and I will burn the place down."

"Sounds good," I said nodding. Hopefully the humans would assume Bella and Charlie died in the fire, body reduced to ashes, and wouldn't go digging. Suddenly Jacob Black's face flashed through my head. "Dammit," I hissed.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked concerned.

"The wolves," I replied. "I had permission to change you but I didn't have permission to change Charlie. The treaty…"

"Is void," Jacob said from the hallway. I didn't notice him come in. Damn, I'm slipping.

"Jacob," I greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"I was patrolling when I saw Emmett load Charlie into his jeep," Jacob replied. He didn't look like he was going to attack so that was a good sign. He walked into the room.

"Bella," I said turning to my mate. "Why don't you start packing up your things?" If a fight was going to break out I wanted to keep Bella of the crossfire.

Bella looked between us before nodding. "Don't fight," she told me. I gently cupped her face before kissing her forehead.

"We won't," I promised. It pained me to know I may not be able to keep that promise.

"Sam's on his way," Jacob informed me. Interesting, was it going to be a formal declaration of war or was it something else? Emmett, Jasper and Alice appeared behind him. Jacob raised his hands. "We don't want to fight."

"Then why are you here," Jasper asked.

"Let's move this conversation outside," Sam called from the stairs.

One by one we left the house. "What are you going to do?" I asked getting to the point.

"We don't want to fight you," Sam said. "But Charlie was a part of our tribe. We need to know why you did it. We may not want to fight you but the others will be out for blood."

"Victoria got to Charlie," I explained. "When we got back to the house Charlie was on the kitchen floor covered in blood. I thought he was dead until Bella noticed a heartbeat. She begged me to change him and I did."

Sam looked impressed that we resisted the blood. He took a deep breath. "Alright," he said. "I have no reason to believe you are lying. With that being said Charlie was dead either way and if anyone had the right to decide Charlie's fate it is Bella."

"You're letting us go?" Emmett asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Sam said. "But don't make us regret it and… I have a favor to ask you."

"Anything," I said honestly.

Sam spoke directly to me, never tearing his dark eyes from mine. "Don't come back to Forks," he said. "Vampires cause our tribe to phase. I want to spare the others the pain and suffering we are going through, so please don't come back unless you have to. We will continue to hunt the red head here but…"

"We will try not to come back," I assured him. I didn't want to come back if I could help it. "I can't speak for Carlisle, Esme and Edward though."

"Thanks," he said. "You better go before people start waking up."

Once they were gone Alice and Jasper loaded up the rest of Charlie's possessions and took off to Texas. Emmett went to the house to get my car and I helped Bella pack what she wanted, and needed to take. She found a hunting knife of Charlie's, given to him by his father, which her father treasured greatly.

Emmett and I loaded Bella's stuff into the car and I told Bella to get into the passenger seat. Emmett was going to burn down the house after Bella and I left and he would catch up with us. We didn't know how long before someone noticed and we didn't want my car spotted.

With one last look at the house we were on the road.


	17. Chapter 17

_Guest- I am upping the rating of this story as there will most likely be smut coming up, however I am not good at writing that so if anyone wants to help I would be eternally grateful._

_Kitsunekit75- Edward, Carlisle and Esme will be coming back. Some will show up sooner than others._

_tlc125- I've never been to Texas, so for some reason the thought of it being sunny did not cross my mind, stupid I know, but I tried to correct that mistake in this chapter._

* * *

><p>Bella<p>

I woke up sometime after we got out of Washington. Rosalie had warned me it would be about a two day trip to get to Texas. It was supposed to take longer but between the way Rosalie drives and their hurry to get away it would be a much shorter trip. I was in the front seat next to Rosalie while Emmett was in the back. Rosalie had pulled over when she got to the highway and waited for Emmett. He, along with Jasper and Alice, had made sure the house would burn to the ground. The wolves had apparently stayed close by to make sure the other houses weren't affected.

"Are you hungry?" Rosalie asked me. We were somewhere in Idaho now though I wasn't sure where. It was dark and all I could see were the lights flashing by as we sped down the highway.

"Yes," I admitted as my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten since the bonfire but that could have been last night, only a few hours earlier. I couldn't exactly remember.

"We will stop soon," Rose promised. "Alice and Jasper have to keep going. Jasper wants to talk to Peter and Charlotte and get Charlie settled before we get there." I nodded.

Ten minutes later, I kept an eye on the clock, Rosalie pulled into the parking lot of a diner that was open twenty-four hours. It was in the middle of nowhere and there were very few cars in the parking lot. If it wasn't for the fact that I was with two vampires, one of which would go to extreme lengths to protect me, I would be worried about being here.

Rosalie led me inside with Emmett right behind us. There was no host to seat us so Rosalie directed me to a booth that was away from the other guests. She slid in and I climbed in next to her. Emmett sat across from us.

I didn't realize I was shaking until Rosalie handed me her jacket. "Charlie," I muttered. I hoped he was alright. I had heard stories of the change and I didn't want Charlie in pain. I prayed he would forgive me for being so selfish. I couldn't let him die though. I brought vampires into my life and into his life. No matter what anyone said this was my fault.

"Is fine," Emmett finished. Rosalie squeezed my hand. "Jasper is doing everything he can to keep Charlie calm until they get to Texas."

The waitress came over and took our drink orders. Rosalie and Emmett ordered iced tea like I did. I figured it was so I had extra in case I was extra thirsty. I sipped it and made a face at the taste. It was way too strong for me. I preferred my tea sweeter. I reached over Rosalie and grabbed a few packets of sugars. I poured one in and then another, followed by a third. I was going for the fourth when Rosalie gently grabbed my hand.

"If you keep putting sugar in that it's not going to taste like tea anymore," she whispered to me.

I dropped the packet and stirred the tea. I wasn't as thirsty as I thought I was but it gave me something to do other than dwelling on Charlie's death. "Do you think they will find out?" I asked suddenly. I looked up and both Rosalie and Emmett were confused. "Carlisle, Esme… Edward, do you think they will hear the news? Do you think they will care?"

"We don't know," Emmett answered. I looked at the menu. Even though I was hungry nothing looked particularly appetizing. "It's possible they will hear about it eventually but who knows when. I know they will care though."

"I think Carlisle and Esme will be angry at us for interfering," Rosalie added.

I suddenly got very angry. "They should butt out of our private lives," I fumed. I get that Carlisle and Esme wanted to keep the peace among family members. I know that they truly believe I am Edward's mate but what I can't understand is after all this time why do they insist Rosalie wants to cause problems.

"Go Bella," Emmett cheered.

"I agree," Rosalie said. "But we were part of Carlisle's coven and because of that we were obligated to follow his orders."

"What do you mean were?" I asked turning to Rosalie. The waitress had exceptionally bad timing as she came over at that moment to take our orders. Emmett and Rose pointed to random items, salad for Rosalie and a burger and fries for Emmett, while I ordered a patty melt with French fries and ranch on the side.

When she was out of earshot I expected Rosalie to continue talking. I looked up from my drink and saw Rosalie and Emmett glaring in the direction of the kitchen. "What?" I asked and Rosalie started growling.

"She's talking about you in the kitchen," Rosalie said, her fists clenched. I wrapped my hands around hers and she instantly relaxed.

"I don't care," I told Rose. Honestly I did care but it wasn't like I was ever going to see these people again. Besides I liked watching Rosalie get protective over me. It was kind of hot.

Rosalie wrapped her arms around me and pulled her closer to her body. I smiled as I sipped my tea. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emmett grinning. I guess he was happy we were together. But were we together? I didn't even know. I hoped so and kind of owed it to her after what happened earlier.

We sat in awkward silence for a few minutes until our food came. "What are you going to do about the food?" I questioned. It seemed wrong to waste it but I knew they wouldn't eat it. It was stupid of them to order the food but I wasn't about to bring that up.

"We have an ice chest in the back," Emmett explained. "We are going to take the food to go so you can have it later." Cold burger and fries wasn't the tastiest things ever but I kept quiet. With any luck we would be in Texas before I needed to eat it. The salad would be perfectly fine in the cooler.

Rosalie tossed some bills on the table after I finished eating. Emmett had gotten up to grab some to go containers. I think it was to keep Rosalie away from the waitress and it was probably for the best. I didn't want to see Rosalie ripping apart some poor girl for making some bad comments when she thought no one could hear her.

Emmett carried the boxes out for me. I tried to protest but he didn't listen so I settled for sticking my tongue out at him. "How much longer will it take?" I asked Rosalie. I felt like a little kid asking if we were there yet. Emmett held the passenger open while I climbed. Once I was in he opened the back and put my food into the cooler.

"About a day," Rosalie answered. "We should be able to get there quicker though."

I felt the phone in my pocket vibrate. I pulled it out and saw a text from Alice. _Twenty hours,_ it read. She must have seen me ask Rose. Less than a day until we were in Texas, until we were home. Technically it was Jasper's home but that didn't matter.

"Here," Emmett said handing me several papers. "You need to pick an identity."

The papers in question were three different birth certificates, each with made up names for parents. The names were just as Rosalie had said: Isabella McCarty, Isabella Whitlock and Bella Hale. I wasn't sure which names the others would use. I know Rose mentioned a possibility but who knows if that stuck. My guess was Rose would use Hale again as it is her name.

I know they tend to use last names that were different from their mates so it wasn't weird if they dated while they were in school. If that was the case I probably shouldn't use Whitlock in case that's what Jasper wants to use. The only option was McCarty.

"I'll take this one," I said placing the McCarty birth certificate on top of the small pile. Emmett grinned as he read which one I picked out.

"Excellent," he said. "I was hoping you would pick this one. Anyway, Texas is really sunny so we can't go out too much." I frowned. I thought we were all going to school together.

"Sorry Bella," Rosalie said softly. "I got a little too excited and forgot about the sun but we can go out when the sun goes down."

"Do I have to go back to school?" I asked. I didn't want to go alone. It wouldn't be as fun. Besides with Victoria out there it wasn't safe. Who knows if she knew we were going to Texas.

Rosalie sighed. "You should," she said. "But if you are going to be changed then I guess it doesn't matter if you wait to finish high school."

I sighed in relief and the three of us lapsed into comfortable silence. I tried not to look at the speedometer. I didn't want to know how fast she was driving because I didn't want to make her go slower. The sooner we go there the better and I didn't want to prolong this trip more than necessary.

I wondered how long it would take before Carlisle, or Edward, called them. The death of a Chief of Police had to be big news so would they find out sooner rather than later? Would they go back to Forks to see me? Or would Edward insist I was better off alone?

I slept off and on during the trip. There wasn't much else to do other than sleep. Four hours after we left the diner I got hungry again and Rosalie pulled over so Emmett could get the salad out of the cooler. It wasn't very filling so when we had to stop for gas I was grateful when Emmett went inside to get some snacks and drinks for me.

When I finally caught sight of the Welcome to Texas sign I sighed in relief. We were almost there. Of course almost there meant another seven to ten hours depending on traffic.

When we finally got to Huston I was relieved and excited. My butt and back were sore from sitting and I really wanted to take a shower. I frowned as Rosalie sped through town. Rose turned to me and started laughing at the look of horror on my face. "They live just outside of town," Rosalie explained.

I glared at her for laughing but nodded in understanding. "So about Peter and Charlotte," Rosalie began. I looked at her confused. "They drink human blood," I opened my mouth to say something but Rosalie continued speaking, cutting me off. "They only drink the blood of bad humans or someone who is already dying." I didn't bring up the similarities to what Edward had done when he rebelled. "They've tried our diet but honestly, it's easier to drink human blood. Drinking human blood means you don't crave it as much."

Rosalie turned down a long driveway. The driveway reminded me of the Cullen house. It was about a mile long, but it was easy to see. There were fences all along the property which was probably for the horses. I looked around but I didn't see any horses. Then it dawned on me. Jasper hadn't lived here in who knows how long so he wouldn't have horses.

Rosalie stopped the car in front of a beautiful home. It was a two story house but smaller than the Cullen house. I liked it far better than the other one. It seemed more, normal I guess. This was definitely the type of house I want when I lived with Rosalie.

I reached for the door but before I could open it Rosalie was out of the car and on my side with the door open. I blushed as I took the hand Rosalie was offering me. She shut the door and wrapped her arms around my waist, leading me toward the house. "Peter and Charlotte are going to come by in a few minutes," Rosalie told me. "They are going to let us get settled first."

Emmett pulled out the spare key from the plant next to the door. It wasn't very original when it came to hiding places but this area was so isolated I don't think it mattered much. The inside of the house was beautiful. It was cowboy themed which was to be expected considering we were in Texas.

The house had a cabin feel to it. The walls were painted a light brown color and the stairs were made from wood. There was civil war memorabilia hanging on the walls as well as some black and white photos that looked to be painted. One picture in particular caught my attention. It was a picture of Jasper back when he was human. He was wearing his army outfit.

"The kitchen is through there," Rosalie said pointing off to the right side of the house. Emmett carried the ice chest to the kitchen. I jumped when he sat it down with a little too much force.

Rosalie gently tugged my hand. I looked at her and she tilted her head toward the stairs. I followed her up and she pointed out each bedroom and the bathroom. "You can pick any room," Rosalie said.

I decided on Jasper's childhood room. It was small, about the size of my room in Arizona, but it was still nice. There was a decent sized TV inside and a Queen sized bed along with a dresser and bookshelf. It was simple but perfect for me.

I dumped my bags on the bed. I was too worn out to unpack, not that I had much to unpack. I collapsed on the bed and waited for Emmett or Rosalie to find me. I figured since they were vampires they could come to me.

I didn't notice anyone enter the room but immediately felt a dip in the bed and suddenly Rosalie was lying down next to me. "I like it here," I told her.

She linked our fingers together. "I'm glad," she muttered.

"What did you mean earlier when you said you were part of Carlisle's coven?" I asked.

Rosalie sighed and turned so she was lying on her side. "When I left them in Alaska I left their coven. You see vampires are not supposed to go against their coven leader's wishes. It's why we had to leave in the first place. Carlisle demanded it after Edward's little speech. By defying that order I broke apart from them. I'm sure I could rejoin the Cullens, especially when Carlisle finds out I'm right, but I would rather not, not if Edward's there."

"What coven are you a part of then?" I wondered.

"Well Jasper decided to make his own," Rosalie told me. "So I would say I'm part of the Whitlock coven, along with Peter, Charlotte, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Charlie and you of course."

"I like it," I mumbled, scooting toward her.

"So Ms. McCarty," she said. I smiled at the name. I really liked it. For some reason I felt it fitted me better than Swan did. "Will you go on a date with me tomorrow night?"

"Ms. Whitlock I would be honored," I chuckled.

I tensed up when the doorbell rang. I knew it was Peter and Charlotte. I also knew if it was Victoria she wouldn't have rang the doorbell but I couldn't help it. "It's just Peter and Charlotte," Rosalie whispered to me. "Come on, let's go meet them."


	18. Chapter 18

Rosalie

I rolled my eyes as I led Bella downstairs. I could hear Peter bouncing in excitement. He was as bad as Emmett most of the time. "Calm down," Charlotte hissed at Peter. I chuckled as she lightly smacked him.

"I can't help it," Peter said.

"What are you laughing at?" Bella asked me.

"Peter is a little excited," I explained.

I opened the front door and Peter flew through the doorway and hugged Bella. I growled and pried Peter off of Bella before throwing him out of the house. I could hear him hit the ground. "Idiot," Charlotte groaned. I was crouched down in front of Bella.

"Rose," Bella called softly. I could hear her moving closer to me. She touched my shoulder and I stood up. That girl… she's lucky I wouldn't, and couldn't, hurt her. "He didn't hurt me. He reminds me of the first time I met Alice."

Charlotte snorted. The first time Alice had met her she did the same exact thing. "Bella," Charlotte called. "I'm Charlotte Whitlock, Jasper's sister and that moron that Rose threw out of the house is Peter."

"Nice to meet you," Bella said. She looked unsure as to whether or not she should go to Charlotte or not. I could understand her hesitation. Last time she met a new vampire, especially one with red eyes, they wanted to kill her, well expect for Laurent. I still need to buy him something for his help, maybe a new car. I would have to ask Irina what kind of car he would like.

"It's okay Bella," I said gently. "Jasper trusts Peter and Charlotte with his life, and Alice's too. They are going to be helping out with Charlie as well."

"Rosalie is right Bella," Charlotte said. Peter was standing outside the door. He seemed to realize he was an idiot and was waiting for my permission to come back inside. "We will do everything to help your father through this tough time. I'm sorry about what happened."

"Thanks," Bella said. "Where are Jasper and Alice?"

"Back at our house," Peter replied walking back into the room. He had his hands up in surrender, probably so I wouldn't attack him. "They are getting Charlie situated and Jazz is trying to keep Charlie calm."

Bella looked around. "Where's Emmett?"

"At the house," Charlotte replied. "He wanted to see if they needed any help."

Peter turned his attention to me. "I'm sorry Rosalie," he said. "I knew better but I was just so excited." He did know better. That was the main reason I was so upset with him. Vampires knew better than to touch another vampire's mate, especially when they were newly mated and, in my case, one was human.

"It's fine," I said knowing Bella wouldn't want me to stay mad at him.

"How long with it be until Charlie wakes up?" Bella asked looking between the three of us.

Peter shrugged. "There's no exact time limit for the change," he explained. "It's usually about two days though. It all depends on how much venom is in the body and how close to the heart it is."

Bella glanced at me and I knew she was she wanted to know. "I bit him over his arteries so the venom would spread quicker," I told her.

Bella looked relieved. I know she blamed herself. I also knew nothing I do or say would change her mind. It's why I didn't even try. All it would do is upset the both of us and I would rather my Bella wasn't upset.

We needed to have a talk. We had settled some things after the truth came out but there was still so much that needed to be discussed. I sounded pathetic for thinking this but I needed to know where we stood. Were we together or not? Was she going to give me a chance? She didn't seem to mind the physical contact but I didn't know if that was more for comfort than anything else.

"Rose," Charlotte called, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I asked looking up. Peter, Charlotte and Bella were all staring at me.

"Peter and I are going to go," Charlotte repeated. "Fill free to bring Bella by. I'll call when Charlie wakes up."

As they were leaving I got an idea. I quickly ran to catch up with them. "Can you do me a favor?" I asked Charlotte. She quickly agreed and I knew she would have no trouble helping me. I quickly explained what I wanted and Charlotte promised to have everything ready and waiting while Bella was in the shower.

"What was that about?" Bella questioned when I walked back into the house.

"Nothing," I said quickly. I sighed when Bella simply stared at me like she knew I was lying. "It's a surprise that you will find out about later."

Bella looked like she was going to protest but stopped herself. The only thing Bella hated more than gifts was surprises. I hated she was trying to change her personality to try and make me happy. It wasn't Bella. I like listening to her protest and I love fighting against her excuses. It would be another thing I needed to bring up during dinner tonight.

"Do you need to hunt?" she asked stepping closer to me.

I hadn't even thought about hunting. It had been a while since I've gone but with everything that happened it didn't even cross my mind. My eyes were most likely black and it was probably scaring Bella. I needed to get out of here so I could hunt. "I do," I replied. "I didn't even realize it until now."

"I figured," Bella said moving closer to me. She gently touched my face. "Your eyes are black. I'm surprised you're not trying to distance yourself from me."

I shook my head. Silly Bella. Only she would believe I am capable of staying away from her, even if I needed to hunt. I have no desire for her blood. I've never had any desire for her blood, even after James attacked her. It was a good thing considering the fact that she was human and a clumsy human at that.

"I meant what I said before," I told her. I took her head in mine and kissed it. "Your blood holds no temptation to me." She bit her lip before nodding in acceptance.

I made a decision to call Alice and ask her to stay with Bella while I hunted. I didn't want to leave her alone in a new house. Seconds later I could hear Alice knocking on the door. "It's Alice," I told Bella when she jumped at the sound. "She's going to stay with you while I hunt."

I pulled the door open and found her bouncing in her spot. "Don't go too crazy," I warned my sister. "Just get the necessities for now. I will take her shopping some other time."

I groaned when I noticed Alice wasn't paying attention to me. "What's going on?" Bella asked curious.

"You and Alice are going to do some online shopping while I'm out," I said. Bella opened her mouth to protest but I quickly cut her off. "As much as I know you don't want to admit it, you don't have enough clothes and Alice can get you the other human necessities."

I went to my purse and pulled out the other two things Jasper made for her. Things she was going to need. I handed them to her and watched her eyes widen in shock. "I can't take this," she said trying to hand back the credit card. The other item was her new driver's license. She had a credit card and license in each of her names, just in case. The rest of us had one in several different names.

"Yes you can," I said refusing to take the offered card. "Bella Swan is dead which means you no longer have your bank account. Take the money Bella. You are a part of the Whitlock Coven now and we take care of our own."

She stared at the card for half a minute. I glanced at Alice briefly and watched her flash the biggest smile I had seen in a while. I wonder what she saw. It didn't take long for me to find out. Bella tucked the card and ID into her back pocket before stepping forward and pressing her lips against mine.

My body froze in shock. I had expected a rather reluctant thank you but I didn't expect her to kiss me. I had been the one to initiate the kisses between us. I felt her start to pull away when she felt no response so I quickly put my hands on her face and held her close. My lips moved slowly and softly against hers. Her lips parted slightly but I made no attempt to deepen the kiss, not with Alice standing and watching us.

All too soon she had to pull away so she could breath. "Wow," she muttered and I giggled.

"I'll be back soon love," I promised. With one last kiss I was out the door.

I have only been to Texas once in my existence. It was not long after Jasper joined the family. He invited me and Emmett to spend time with Peter and Charlotte. Carlisle and Edward don't like Peter and Charlotte because they are human drinkers but we didn't care. Peter is a lot like Emmett so we all got along great.

Even though I've only been here once I still remembered where the best hunting area was, as if I were only yesterday. I ran to the woods, conveniently located behind Jasper's house. Texas had some good game for us so I had no trouble filling up.

After I finished I waited for a while. I wanted Bella and Alice to have plenty of time to shop. Then again maybe I shouldn't leave them alone for too long. I walked through the wood at a human's pace. I figured by the time I got back to the house that would be plenty of time for them to finish.

I was about halfway through the woods when my phone rang. I pulled my phone out and frowned as Carlisle's name popped up on my screen. Great, that didn't last long. "Hello," I said answering the phone. I kept my voice neutral. I didn't want him to know I was worried about his call. I didn't want him to know anything.

"_Rosalie_," Carlisle called. I resisted the urge to say 'No duh.' It took a lot of restraint on my part.

"What do you want Carlisle?" I asked rather rudely. I'm glad Bella wasn't here to scold me.

"_What did you do_?" he countered. I growled into the phone. Why was it always assumed that I had done something wrong? In all my years I had never slipped up and made our family relocated. I've never complained when we had to relocate because of Emmett, Jasper or Alice. Though I will admit when Edward slipped up in 1975 I was pissed.

"What makes you think I did anything?" I asked, trying my best not to yell at him.

"_I saw the news Rosalie_," Carlisle said sighing. "_Even in Canada we heard about Charlie. What happened_?"

"Exactly what Jasper warned you was going to happen," I ranted. As far as Charlie was concerned I blamed the Cullens almost as much as I blamed Victoria for his need to be changed. "He told you repeatedly that Victoria would want revenge for James' death and you insisted we not hunt her down."

"_It's been months since you left Rosalie_," Carlisle said. I detected a hint of sadness. "_Why are you still in Forks_?"

"I'm not in Forks," I told him.

"_You know what I mean_," he said. "_Why did you stay there so long? I'm assuming Bella is still alive which means either you didn't try or didn't succeed in killing her_." I growled again.

"I did nothing to hurt her," I spat. "I was cleaning up the mess your _son_ left."

"_If you had done what you were told then none of this would have happened_," Carlisle argued.

"You're right," I said. "Not only would Charlie be dead but so would Bella."

"_Rosalie Lillian Hale-Cullen_," Carlisle growled into the phone. It seems I hit a nerve.

"No," I growled back. I was seconds away from turning my phone into a lump of plastic. "I am no longer a Cullen Carlisle. I haven't been since you turned your back on _my mate_." I didn't wait for his reply. I snapped the phone shut with a little too much force and destroyed it in the process.

I dropped the remains of my phone on the ground and wiped my hands on my pants. Now that the anger had faded I was regretting losing my temper. I never should have told him the truth. I was going to but telling him on the phone was a bad idea.

It won't take long for Carlisle to realize we are in Texas. He knows this would be Jasper's first choice and that we are all together. It was a matter of time before he showed up here and I wouldn't be surprised if Edward came too.

I would give it a week at the most. That meant I had a week with my Bella before they tried to break us apart. I wasn't stupid. Carlisle now knows I've laid claim to Bella. When one vampire tries to take another's mate they fight to the death. It's pointless considering we only have one mate. Bella would never belong to Edward, even if I died. I knew if she was changed and then I was killed she would kill Edward in vengeance. It was a lot like Victoria and James.

I ran back home. As Alice already knows about the conversation I don't have to worry about telling her. Hopefully she hasn't told Bella about the phone call. I want to tell her myself. I walked into the house and Alice caught my eye and shook her head. She didn't tell.

"How was shopping?" I asked them.

I expected Bella to start ranting about all of the clothes Alice made her buy but to my surprise she didn't. "It was fine. She didn't make me buy too much," she said. I turned to my sister and raised an eyebrow. She was up to something. "She said we can make up for it when we go out."

There it was. Alice was going to let Bella feel comfortable and then drag her out to shop. I felt bad for my young mate. "Rose can I talk to you?" Alice asked.

"Sure," I said. I already know what she was going to talk to me about. I wonder if she saw something. I turned to Bella. "It's almost dinner time. Why don't you start getting ready while I talk to Alice?" I suggested.

Bella bit her lip for a few seconds before nodding. She stepped forward and kissed my cheek. She turned around and headed to the stairs, tripping on the way. I could smell the blood rising to her cheeks and I knew she was embarrassed. "We can talk outside," I said leading Alice out the front door. I didn't want to risk Bella overhearing us. I could hear the shower start and I sent a quick text to Charlotte.

"Rose you shouldn't have told Carlisle," she said asked when we were twenty feet from the front door.

"I know," I said sighing. "I was just so angry at him. It slipped out. Are they coming here?"

Alice nodded sadly. "Yeah, I can't see exactly when they are coming but they will. Carlisle is still debating on whether or not he wants to tell Edward."

I snorted. It was only a matter of time before Carlisle told Edward. The question was what was taking him so long? Did that mean Edward was no longer in Canada with Carlisle and Esme? "Where is Edward?" I asked. I had learned from Jasper to always be one step ahead of your enemy. If he wasn't in Canada I needed to know where he was. I watched Charlotte run into the house and place the dresses in our bedroom before leaving again. She waved on her way out.

Alice frowned. "He's not in Canada but I don't know where he is. I don't think he is making any decisions and until Carlisle calls him I doubt I will see anything."

"Damn," I muttered.

"Don't worry Rose," Alice said. "As soon as they make a decision I will know."

"I'm going take her on a date," I said stating the obvious. "I don't want worry her with this so I'll tell her after dinner. I'll let her decide how she wants to handle this." If she wanted to leave Texas to avoid the confrontation I would happily take her away.

"You should do that," Alice agreed. "She deserves a night to be a normal teenage girl. You both deserve to be normal for the night. I'll talk to Jasper and the others and see if we can come up with some plan for when they appear."

"Like you don't already know the plan," I teased. Alice stuck her tongue out at me.

"You should go get ready," she told me. "I'll talk to you later." I hugged my sister and watched her run off to Peter and Charlotte's house.

The shower was still running when I got back inside. I went up to the master bedroom where I had put my things and changed into the violet dress left for me. I took my time getting ready, going slower than the average human, in order to waste time. We couldn't leave until Bella was ready so there was no use rushing.

Twenty minutes later we were driving into Houston. It had taken five minutes for me to stop staring at her so we could leave. The sun had started to set so it was safe for me to outside. I checked online earlier for the best restaurant in town. It had a five star rating but wasn't overly fancy so I was sure Bella would like it.

One of the many things I had discovered about Bella since going back to Forks was that Bella didn't like us taking her out to eat because it felt wrong to her as we didn't eat. That was something I planned on changing tonight.

It wasn't that we couldn't eat because we could. It was just food was repulsive to us so we preferred not to eat. The venom we produced broke down the food in ways similar to the human body. Eating didn't affect us in any way. We just can't stand the taste. But tonight was different. Tonight I was going to be human, or as human as I could. I was going to eat and drink like a normal person and give Bella the date she deserves.

I pulled into the parking lot of the Mexican restaurant. It was pretty busy here so it must be good. I hope Bella likes it. I held Bella's hand as we headed inside. I'm glad I hunted earlier otherwise I would be very uncomfortable right now. As it was I was trying not to breathe too much.

By the time we got to the hostess I was ready to kill some of these humans. They were so rude, pushing others out of their way. Kids were climbing over the seats in the waiting area while the elderly had to stand in a corner. One lady even had a cane and still no one made room for her. It made me miss the 1920s. Everyone was so polite back then.

"How many?" the woman asked looking up.

"Just two," I replied.

She looked at the long list of names in front of her and then at the seating chart that they used to keep track of which table was open. "It will be about an hour," she told me.

I pulled out a few hundred dollar bills from my pockets. I slid them across the podium. The woman's eyes lit up and she checked her papers again. "Give me a minute," she said.

The hostess hurried away and grabbed the arm of a waiter. "The girl at the podium gave me three hundred dollars to seat her and her friend," the hostess whispered.

I could see the waiters shocked expression. "Did she know it was three hundred dollars?"

The hostess shrugged. "I don't know but my son really needs new shoes and clothes and now I can buy them for him," she replied. "Can we get her a table please?" The waiter looked around and spotted a table for two off to the side.

"I'm already swamped Liz," he said rather reluctantly.

Liz wasn't taking no for an answer. "You need the money more than anyone else here Frank," she said. "This lady is obviously filthy rich. If you do well she will probably tip big." I should be mad that they are using me to get more but honestly I didn't care. I felt bad for these humans. The waiter and waitress looked worn out, like they had been working nonstop on top of their other duties.

I had over a thousand dollars in cash with me in case of emergencies, even after I gave the hostess three hundred dollars. I decided I would split the cash between the two since they needed it more than I do. "I can seat you now," the woman said.

Bella and I followed the woman to a table off to the side. It was a good place to sit in case I gagged on the food. As the woman turned to walk away I quickly shoved five hundred dollars into her hand. Confused she looked at what was in her hand. Her eyes widened in shock and I saw a few tears fall. "Thank you," she muttered gratefully.

The waiter rushed over to us as soon as we sat down. "Good evening," he greeted. "My name is Frank and I will be your waiter. Can I start you off with something to drink?"

Bella ordered iced tea while I asked for water. He quickly wrote down the drink orders and rushed away. "So," Bella said looking at me.

"So," I repeated.

"You gave that woman a lot of money," Bella commented, fiddling with her water glass.

"She needed the money for her son," I told her. Bella looked up. "I overheard her talking to the waiter. Apparently he needs the money too and she thought if they got us a table I would tip big."

"You're not mad?" Bella asked surprised. I frowned. Did she think I hated all humans? I didn't particularly like them but I wouldn't sit back and watch them suffer if there was something I could do.

"No," I said shaking my head. "I get why they did it and they were pretty creative about it."

Frank came back with our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. Bella ordered some cheese enchilada combination plate. I quickly glanced over the menu before ordered a burrito. Frank grabbed our menus and walked away.

"Bella," I said before taking a deep breath. This was my moment of truth. "I wanted to ask you something." Bella waited patiently for me to continue. "How do you feel about…Edward?" It wasn't exactly what I wanted to know but it was a start.

"I… I don't know," she replied honestly. "I'm mad at him for lying to me but… he was my first love and a part of me still cares for him and probably always will." I swallowed hard. I should have expected that. No one forgets their first love. "That's not what you wanted to ask, is it?"

Damn Bella and her perceptive nature. "No, it wasn't," I admitted.

Bella bit her lip. "You want to know how I feel about you." It wasn't a question. "I have feelings for you," she confessed. "And they are strong."

"But?" I questioned. I didn't want to let myself get too happy about it.

"But, I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm scared of getting hurt, of allowing myself to love you. I'm scared I'm not good enough for you and you will leave me."

I sighed. Jasper told me that she was scared but I still don't understand it. "Bella, I would never purposely hurt you. I would rather jump into a fire than hurt you. I will admit I'm not perfect." Bella snorted. Apparently she disagreed with that statement but I didn't comment. "I may hurt you unintentionally but I swear to do everything to make it up to you. I love you Bella. Nothing will ever change that. No one could ever replace you in my heart. You are perfect my Bella."

She looked down. I could smell the blood and knew she was blushing. I waited patiently for her to say something. I didn't want to embarrass her even more. "I want to try this," she said looking up. "I want to try us."

I smiled at her and I heard her heart skip a beat. "There's something I need to tell you," I said after Frank brought us our food.

She stared at me as I took a bite of the burrito. I was proud of myself for not wincing at the taste. "You're eating," she said surprised.

"This is a date," I reminded her. "I figured you would be more comfortable if I was also eating. That and I figured you would be less reluctant with me paying."

Bella groaned softly and I chuckled. "What did you want to tell me?" she questioned.

I sat my fork down and took a deep breath. "Carlisle called me while I was hunting," I told her. Bella frowned and I could tell she didn't understand. "He accused me of causing problems and I blew up at him. I told him you were my mate. I didn't wait for his reply. I hung up and broke my phone."

"So he knows," Bella muttered looking down. Frank came by and refilled out drinks.

"That's not all," I said. "Bella, Alice saw them coming here. She doesn't know when yet as Carlisle is still undecided but… they will come. It won't take him long to find him here."

"Is Edward coming?" Bella asked.

"Honestly I don't know," I replied. "Carlisle hasn't decided to tell him yet. But when they know we will know. We need to know what you want to do. If you want to leave again we can."

Bella shook her head. "We can't leave, not with Charlie changing," she said.

"It would be you and I leaving," I told her as gently as possibly. "It wouldn't be long, just until they leave again."

"I want to stay," Bella said firmly. "If Carlisle and Esme are going to come here I want to see them and I want to confront Edward. I want answers from him."


	19. Chapter 19

_Shellmar- Edward confrontation won't happen for a few chapters still._

_I forgot to mention earlier but Edward is not evil in this story. Manipulative and immature yes, evil no. He really does love Bella but he's got the mindset of a child, or teenager. Carlisle and Esme aren't bad either, just blinded and misguided._

_I have the next chapter all planned out so I should have it done within the week._

* * *

><p>Bella<p>

After dinner Rose and I walked around town. It took a while for us to finally leave the restaurant as our waiter couldn't stop thanking Rose for the huge tip she left him. I had never seen someone so grateful in my life. It made me love Rose more knowing that she would help out a stranger.

She held my hand as we walked through the park that was across the street from the restaurant. She took pity on me and we skipped the shopping. I still couldn't believe she ate dinner with me. Edward always made it seem like it was impossible for them to eat. Yet Rose ate everything on her without ever showing her discomfort.

"Are you cold?" Rosalie asked concerned. I shook my head and moved closer to her body. The weather was actually nice out. It was warm but Rosalie's cool body made it perfect.

She wrapped her arm around my waist as we walked. "Can I see Charlie?" I asked. I was worried about my father. He had to be in a lot of pain.

Rosalie sighed. "We can see him for a few minutes but he could wake up at any time so you can't stay too long," she said. "I don't want him accidently attacking you."

I nodded. I didn't want to be a temptation for Charlie. I hoped with the help of Jasper, Peter and Charlotte, Charlie's transition would be as easy as possible. I knew no matter what it would be difficult for him to adjust to his new life and the loss of his career but I would do anything to help him.

"Do you think Edward will try anything?" I questioned when we sat down on a bench. We watched the lovers walk through the park. The older couples made me smile. I always wondered what it would be like to spend most of your life with someone. I could imagine watching through the park with Rosalie a hundred years from now.

"I don't know Bella," she said. She sounded upset at the thought of not knowing how Edward would react. It seemed like she was relying on Alice's ability to keep us one step ahead of him. "I don't think Edward would ever physically hurt you no matter how angry he is. That just isn't his style but I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to manipulate you away from me."

"What about you?" I glanced at her expressionless face. "Rose," I called softly, touching her face.

"Edward and I don't have the best relationship," Rosalie said looking at me. She held my hand to her face. "Even before you came to Forks we always clashed. Edward is very old-fashioned so our relationship is hard for him to understand. The fact that his sister has 'stolen' his mate makes it even worse in his mind. I highly doubt he will try to hurt you but with me… he doesn't have that kind of care." She took a deep, unnecessary breath. "I'm sure he will try to kill me because in his mind I'm the only thing standing in the way of the two of you being together."

My heart clenched and I was having trouble breathing. The thought of Rosalie being dead was causing me to have a panic attack. "Breath Bella," she whispered in my ear. I grabbed at the fabric of my dress over my heart, willing myself to calm down. Rosalie gently pried by hands from my dress and held them against her face. "Relax love, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

She kept whispering things in my ear about how she was close by and nothing was going to happen to her. Eventually I calmed down though my chest was still hurting. I spent a few minutes resting in her arms before we headed back to her car so we could go see Charlie.

Once we were out of town Rosalie turned on the unfamiliar road that led to Peter and Charlotte's house. The house itself was very similar to Jasper's, at least the outside was. I wondered if all the homes this far out looked the same.

Rosalie held the car door open for me and I followed her to the house. "Are they all here?" I asked.

Rosalie nodded. "Alice is online ordering clothes for Charlie since he won't be able to shop for a while," she said. "Jasper is monitoring Charlie's emotions trying to keep the pain down as much as possible and Charlotte is watching Peter and Emmett play Xbox."

We went inside, Rose didn't bother knocking, and I noticed it was set up almost the same as Jasper's. The decorations were different and the house has a more lived in look but the layout looked to be the same.

"Hey Bella," Peter greeted, not looking up from the screen.

Emmett swore when Peter killed his character. "Hey Bells," he greeted cheerfully as if nothing happened. I rolled my eyes at my big brother. He was such a little kid.

"Charlie's upstairs," Rosalie said leading me to the stairs.

The closer we got to Charlie's room the faster my heart beat. Rosalie had assured me multiple times that the venom would take care of any and all problems Charlie may have had. All his wounds would be healed and he would be as good as new. She warned me he would have blood red eyes, like Peter and Charlotte, because of all of his blood running through his system. If he drank from animals it would start to fade after a few months and eventually turn to the gold I was used to.

Jasper didn't look up when we walked into the room. He was sitting in a chair next to the bed, concentrating on Charlie's emotions. Charlie was motionless, which was surprising as I heard the change was very painful.

I carefully studied Charlie and noticed his skin was a lot paler than it was before but not quite as pale as the others yet. The grey hairs had disappeared and his hair looked healthier, even shiny. It was amazing what venom could do.

"Do you think he will hate me?" I whispered.

Jasper looked up. His eyes were black and I tried to back away so he wouldn't be uncomfortable. "I'm okay Bella," he promised. "Keeping his pain down takes a lot out of me but Alice has been bringing me animals so I can feed. He won't hate you. The only thing stronger than the pain he is feeling is his love for you."

Rosalie pulled me against her body. "He loves you Bella," she said softly. "He will be confused and maybe a little upset but I don't think he will blame you for this. If anything he will blame me." I hoped Charlie wasn't angry with Rosalie. I didn't want her to get hurt because of me.

"Bella," Jasper called as we turned to leave. I glanced at him. "You look beautiful tonight."

I heard him and Rosalie chuckle as I blushed in embarrassment. "Thanks," I mumbled before following Rosalie out of the house.

"Jasper is right you know," Rosalie said pulling out of the driveway. "You do look beautiful." I wondered if they enjoyed embarrassing me. Rosalie reached over and stroked my cheek. "I love your blush," she muttered and I wondered if she meant for me to hear that.

I didn't realize until we got to the house and Rosalie and I were the only ones there. It was exciting and scary at the same time. I knew Rosalie would never pressure me into anything but a part of me wondered if Rosalie actually wanted me in that way. I didn't want to pressure her into anything, especially not after hearing about her past but I was curious.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked concerned. We were lying on my bed after changing out of our clothes and into pajamas. "Your heart is beating fast."

"I'm okay," I assured her. "I'm just worried about Edward showing up here."

"Don't be scared," Rosalie said running her fingers through my hair.

"I'm afraid of losing you," I confessed. "Sometimes it's hard to believe this is the same Edward you know?" I could feel her nodding. "He was always so… I don't know calm, especially when Mike and Eric asked me out." Rosalie growled against me and I smiled. "I guess this is different though," I continued, not paying any attention to what I was saying. "I love you but I didn't love them and I guess Edward knew that was going to happen."

"What?" Rosalie asked, jerking away. It took me a moment to realize what I said. I blushed again and hoped Rosalie forgot about it. Of course that wasn't going to happen. "Bella," she said tilting my head so I was looking at her. "Do you love me?"

I was hesitant to reply. The last person I loved left me alone in the woods after telling me I wasn't good enough for him. I wouldn't survive Rosalie doing that to me, not that I thought she would. Even if she left me I'm sure she would be a lot nicer about it.

If I said the works out loud then it would become real, even more real than it already was, and that scared more than anything in my life. The thought of losing Rosalie was worse than when Edward had left me.

"Yes," I replied even though that wasn't wanted to say. I wanted to say no, or nothing as I didn't want to hurt her. I wasn't sure what would happen if I rejected her and I don't plan on finding out. "I love you."

Rosalie had a smile that could light up the room. "I love you too Bella," she replied. She stared at me for a few seconds before leaning forward and pressing her lips against mine.

It was the first time we had declared our love for each other and it was a big moment for us but Rosalie's lips on mine made me forget everything. The world could end and I would be too focused on the cold, perfect lips attached to mine to realize it.

Her kiss was more passionate and forceful than the others. Yet it was still controlled as if she knew exactly how far she could push before she hurt me, which was a good thing considering I didn't want to get hurt.

Her hands travelled up my bare legs, leaving behind goose bumps, and she wrapped her hands around my thighs. Once she was sure she had a firm grip on me she pulled me against her body. My legs automatically wrapped around her waist.

She let go of my thighs and ran her hands up my back, underneath my shirt. I moaned as I felt her lips attach to my neck, allowing me the chance to breathe. I wasn't sure what to do with my hands so I copied her and ran my hands down her cold, bare back.

I heard her moan and was pleased I was doing something right. As Rosalie licked my collarbone I was vaguely aware of how fast we were moving. The rational part said we should stop but the hormonal part didn't care and wanted the clothes to come off.

Rosalie pulled away and started growling. I wondered if she had lost control but her eyes were still gold. I frowned. Was it something I did? "Alice," she growled.

Alice? What about her? She was at Peter and Charlotte's house shopping away. Did something happen and she was coming here? "Relax Rose," Alice said walking into my bedroom. "You two weren't going to have sex."

I groaned and hid my face to hide my embarrassment. "Did you have a vision about that?" Rosalie sneered, obviously not happy that we were interrupted. I elbowed her in the ribs, though all it did was bruise me in the process.

It suddenly got quiet, so I peaked at the two of them. It looked like they were having a private conversation. I frowned at them. I hated when I was left out because I was human. It was worse when it came to Alice and Edward. They could have entire conversations without ever speaking, a lot like their chess matches.

"Sorry Alice," Rosalie muttered loud enough for me to hear.

"So why are you here?" I asked curious. I assumed there was a reason other than embarrassing me. Then again it was Alice. I'm fairly sure her and Emmett say and do things just to embarrass me.

"Charlie is waking up tomorrow around noon," Alice announced excited.

"Really?" I asked. I didn't bother to hide my excitement. Even though it had only been a little over a day since I talked to him I really missed him. "What's he going be like? Will I be able to see him?"

"I don't know," Alice informed me. "I can't see his future." My face fell and my excitement quickly turned to confusion and fear. I thought Alice saw everything and if she couldn't see Charlie's future did that mean he was going to die soon.

I opened my mouth to ask how that was possible but Alice beat me to it, probably seeing me ask the question. "Newborns are driven by instinct, by their need to feed. Because of this they don't think about their decisions. They just react. I've never been around a newborn before so this is all speculation based on what Jasper has told me. I honestly don't know if I'll have a vision about him for a while."

I sighed in relief. He wasn't dying. "Can I see him when he wakes up?" I asked. I know Rosalie didn't want me around Charlie in case he attacked me but he was my father. I wanted to be there for him. There had to be some way for me to see him.

"No," Rosalie said immediately. "There's a reason Jasper, Peter, Charlotte and Emmett are at the house right now. Newborns are strong, stronger than the average vampire and even stronger than us. Newborns feed… for lack of a better word… on the human blood left in their bodies. Jasper, Peter and Charlotte have experience with newborns. Their skill, along with Jasper's gift and Emmett's strength will be able to keep Charlie under control."

"Then why can't I see Charlie?" I asked. Rosalie's argument was more for why I should be able to see him but I don't think she realized that.

"She's got a point Rose," Alice pointed out. I was relieved she was on my side. "As long as she doesn't get too close and the others are there she should be fine."

"Can you check my future and find out?" I asked. It was the best way to assure Rosalie I would be safe.

Alice shook her head. "You haven't made a decision to go. You won't go unless Rosalie agrees and as she hasn't yet…"

"My future is still uncertain," I concluded.

I looked at my vampire, silently begging her to agree. She sighed. "Alright," she agreed. "But Jasper and Emmett do not leave your side. I will not allow something to happen to you." I nodded. It seemed fair enough and I highly doubt it would get any better than that.

"Excellent," Alice stated before gasping.

I felt Rosalie stiffen beside me and my heart sank. What was wrong? She looked fine and didn't look like she was about to attack anything.

Alice, however, looked like a statue. She wasn't moving or breathing. Her eyes were glazed over like someone who was high. Honestly it was kind of scary. After several minutes she finally started breathing again.

"What is it?" Rose asked urgently. Her arms wrapped around my waist and she pulled me against her body as if she was trying to comfort herself.

"Carlisle's made his decision," Alice announced softly. "He's calling Edward. They are coming here."

* * *

><p><em>Charlie is not going to be a newborn with super self control. His control may be better than the average newborn but it will not be anywhere near the level of Bella's from the book. Same goes for Bella, ifwhen she is changed._

_So, should Charlie have a gift? If so, what should it be?_

_Also, who should Charlie's mate be, or should be remain single?_


	20. Chapter 20

_Next few chapters should be out a lot quicker as I have them all planned out._

_I am working on another Rosella story that will be published after this one is finished, in case anyone is interested._

_Thanks for making this my most popular story!_

* * *

><p>Rosalie<p>

Alice was lucky I didn't rip her fucking head off when she interrupted us. I suppose Jasper wouldn't be too happy about that though. But still she knew better. Hell even Emmett and Peter were stupid enough to interrupt a newly mated couple. It happened with all mates; even though Bella was human it was the same for us. The more dominant of the two, normally the male but in mine and Bella's case, me as I was the only vampire, would claim their mate through sex.

Mating was a primal act and we allowed the animal within us to control our actions. The demon in me would never hurt Bella, regardless of the fact that she was human. Something inside me knew exactly how hard I could touch her before it would hurt her, something I was very grateful. Otherwise I would be as neurotic as Edward and that was not an appealing thought.

The only thing that kept me from ripping Alice apart, other than Bella getting hurt by elbowing me, was the fact that she had interrupted because she had a vision. Her vision was of us consummating our relationship and Bella regretting it. Alice assured me it wasn't because she didn't love me, or want me. She just wasn't ready yet despite her body's response. This allowed me to calm down and realize Bella and I hadn't discussed the physical aspect of our relationship.

Bella's heartbeat sped up to a dangerous speed. I glanced at Alice and she was already on the phone with Jasper. Seconds later my empathic brother appeared. "Calm Bella," he said kneeling beside her.

Her heartbeat slowed slightly but it looked like his gift wasn't working. "Why isn't it working?" I hissed, holding my mate in my arms. She leaned against me but still her heartbeat was out of control.

"She's having a panic attack," Jasper muttered touching her shoulder. His gift was a lot stronger when he touched someone. Sure enough her heartbeat slowed to normal and it wasn't long before she was asleep.

"She had a panic attack earlier," I muttered. "But she didn't react this badly then."

"I don't think she expected the others to come so soon," Alice said. "Honestly I didn't either."

Jasper nodded. "Between that and the stress of Charlie's change she couldn't handle it. It's best to let her sleep now," he said. He stood up. "I need to get back to Charlie, call me if she panics again."

"Thanks Jazz," I said gratefully. He came to my side and gave me a comforting hug. He kissed Alice and ran out of the room.

"I'm sorry Rose," Alice said looking down. I didn't need Jasper's gift to know she felt guilty for causing the panic attack. "I didn't see her reacting like that; well I didn't really have time to see a reaction." She frowned. "Seems like I've been missing a lot lately."

"It's not your fault Alice," I assured my sister. I patted the bed next to me and in the blink of an eye she was lying next to me. "Can you see anything else with them?"

Alice concentrated for a moment. "There are several possibilities," she admitted. "It all depends on what Carlisle says. He hasn't made up his mind on that. He just knows he's telling Edward."

"What are the possibilities?" I questioned. Alice fidgeted and I knew she saw something bad. "Alice," I warned. She better not be hiding vital information about my mate.

"There are three main futures I saw," Alice said, trying to stall as much as possible. "All of the possibilities lead to one of three outcomes."

"Alice," I growled. If it wasn't for the fact that Bella was in my arms I would be close to attacking her.

Alice sighed. "In one of the futures I saw you killed Edward, there are many reasons why and they don't really matter until I figure out which future will happen. The second possibility is Edward…" Alice choked up and I immediately knew what was going to happen next, "he killed you and Bella lost the desire to live. She ended up committing suicide before we can do anything to stop her." My arms tightened around Bella. That was one future I would not allow to come to pass. "The last," Alice gulped, "You and Edward got into a fight and Bella got in the middle to stop it. Edward attacked her, by accident, and killed her before anyone could change her. Jazz and Emmett killed Edward and you went to the Volturi to die because we refused to help you die." It made sense. When our mate dies we lose the desire to live and it ends up killing up.

I closed my eyes and focused on Bella's heartbeat and breathing. It was the only thing that could me right now. Two out of three of the possible futures involved my Bella dead. This couldn't happen. I refuse to allow it to happen. "It can't happen," I said firmly. "I won't let her die, not now that I finally have her by my side."

"I know Rose," Alice said softly. "We will do everything we can to keep this from happening. I will let the others know so they will be on high alert. I'm sure Emmett won't leave her side once he finds out."

I chuckled. Emmett was far too protective of the women in his family, especially Bella since she couldn't protect herself. His future mate was one lucky woman. "I should go," Alice said standing up. She got to the doorway before stopping and facing me again. "We will protect her Rose. I promise."

I nodded and she was gone. The house was silent other than the sound of Bella's heartbeat and our breathing. I closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep.

Morning arrived quicker than I would have liked. I was enjoying listening to Bella call my name in her sleep. It was nice to know her nightmares were gone, at least for last night.

I checked the clock and found it was 9am. Bella would be waking up at any moment so I carefully slipped out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Peter and Charlotte had filled the kitchen with human food while we were on our way here.

I looked through the cabinets and fridge and decided to make Bella bacon, eggs, fruit and waffles for breakfast in bed. I prepared everything at vampire speed. Once the preparations were taken care of I just had to wait for everything to cook. It took about ten minutes for everything to finish. I placed the two fried eggs on the plate with the bacon and waffles. The sliced fruit was in a bowl on a tray I was going to carry upstairs. I also had a glass of orange juice and a vase with a single red rose in it from the garden in the front yard, along with a mug of blood for me.

I could hear Bella's heartbeat speed up as my made my way to her bedroom and I could tell she was waking. When I got to the room she was sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Morning," I greeted, carefully placing the tray over her lap.

"Good morning," Bella replied sleepily. She stared at the tray. "You made me breakfast in bed?"

"Yes," I said. I quickly grabbed the cup with blood in it so she wouldn't notice.

"Thanks," she said, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

"Anything for my Bella," I replied.

She ate silently for a few minutes while I sipped the blood. "Rose," she said getting my attention. I looked up from my cup. "Edward mentioned when you smell blood you become, well monsters and that when you hunt your instinct takes over."

I frowned for half a second before nodding. I was surprised Edward mentioned that to her. Then again he was adamant about her staying away from our world, even going as far as trying to prove we were monsters. I never believed we were soulless beings. I hate this life because it ruined my chance at a family but seeing how happy I am with Bella and how happy Jasper and Alice are together. It's hard for me to believe we would go to Hell for something we couldn't control and I could never picture Carlisle going to Hell.

"I'm curious, how can you sit here so calmly and drink blood without losing control," she continued.

I carefully sat the cup on the nightstand. "A couple reasons," I said. "First Edward is an idiot," she gave a half-smile. "There is no threat to my 'hunt'," I tried to explain. "Edward wants you to believe we are monsters and while we can be, we're not. I can't lose control around you Bella. It's physically impossible for me to harm or kill you. The demon within me recognizes you as its mate. Protecting you is the most important job."

"Why would Edward say that then?" Bella wondered.

I sighed. This wasn't something I wanted to talk about first thing in the morning but she did deserve to know. "We are very protective of our kill, whether it is a human or an animal. When hunting it is best to steer clear of another vampire."

"Alice has been bringing Jasper animals," Bella muttered.

"Yes," I agreed. "But the others stayed away while he fed. Alice isn't a threat to Jasper so he didn't mind her being there.

"Alice isn't a threat to anyone," Bella mumbled.

I chuckled. "She's quite dangerous when she feels threatened," I told her. "Just because Alice is small doesn't mean she isn't deadly. Remember that, never judge a vampire by their appearance."

I noticed her paying extra close attention to the information I gave her about vampires. I was glad she was going to make an informed decision when it came to being changed. I gave the others permission to give her details, like and dislikes regarding being a vampire, something they missed about being human, or details about their change, anything they felt would be useful.

"Do you think Charlie will have a gift?" Bella asked after finishing her food.

I laughed. "Jasper, Emmett and Peter have been placing bets on whether or not he will," I explained when I saw her confused face.

"What do they think?" Bella questioned.

"Peter thinks Charlie won't be gifted," I started. "Emmett thinks he will have an offensive gift and Jasper thinks his gift will be more mental."

"Like Edward not being able to read my mind?" she asked.

"That's where Jasper got the idea," I confirmed. "You are a lot like Charlie so it is possible."

At exactly noon we were walking toward Peter and Charlotte's house. "Stay outside until I call you," Jasper instructed from the bedroom Charlie was staying in.

I grabbed Bella's hand to stop her. She looked at me questioningly. "He's waking up," I said, listening to the last stutter of Charlie's heartbeat. "Jasper wants to get a read on his emotions first."

"Oh, okay," she said, tapping her foot on the ground. "Can he smell me from here?"

"Yes," I replied. Thankfully the others could stop Charlie before he got to Bella if necessary.

"Should we move then?" she asked trying to back up as if it would help. I pulled her in my arms.

"We will be fine here," I promised. "Just have to wait for Jasper's signal."

I listened carefully as Charlie woke up. He was confused as to what was going on but he wasn't hostile, which was a good sign. He couldn't figure out why Alice and Emmett were there, he still hadn't seen Jasper yet. When he did his natural instinct to fight kicked in. Jasper easily calmed him and gave Charlie a quick overview of what we were and what he now was.

One look at the scars on Jasper, Peter and Charlotte and he tensed up. Great, it wouldn't take much to set him off now. "Where's Bella?" Charlie demanded.

I tensed at the words and I resisted the urge to fight to defend my mate. I was surprised he remembered her but what Jasper said was true. Charlie's love for Bella was stronger than anything so maybe it allowed him to remember.

"She's closer than you think," Jasper assured him. "But you can't see her until we are sure she will be safe. Alice, darlin', can you get the blood?" Alice ran downstairs and grabbed several containers of the blood we brought with us. She went back upstairs and handed Charlie the containers. He drained all four containers faster than I thought possible.

"You can bring her now," Jasper called. He was more relaxed now that Charlie had fed.

I was still hesitant but I trusted Jasper. "Come on," I said leading her inside the house.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" she questioned. Now that she was here she was a little scared.

"I will protect you," I promised, though I knew that wasn't what she meant.

We walked slowly up the steps. Emmett and Peter were standing on either side of the door when we walked inside. I entered the room first, keeping my attention focused on Charlie as Bella entered behind me.

I could see the venom pooling in his mouth as he smelled my mate. I watched Jasper calm him down and he relaxed. "Bella?" Charlie called confused. He wasn't sure if it was actually her. "Why does she smell so good?" he muttered under his breath.

"It's the human blood," Jasper explained. "Bella's blood is sweeter than the average humans so that doesn't help."

I could feel Bella's fear, even without Jasper's gift. I glanced at her and saw she had her fists clenched. "Bella," I said gently grabbing her hands. "You don't want to draw blood in a room full of vampires."

I stroked her fingers until she relaxed. I had my back to Charlie, which wasn't the smartest idea, and I heard him growling at me. "Get away from my daughter," he snarled at me. I guess he didn't remember our meeting before he was changed and didn't like a Cullen being romantically involved with her.

He stepped forward before Jasper had a chance to react. Charlie had one hand out as if he was going to grab Bella from me and I snapped. I didn't care that he was a newborn that didn't know our customs yet. Touching someone's mate was a punishable offense and trying to remove Bella from me was not going to fly.

I crouched down in front of her and snarled at Charlie. "MINE," I roared. A part of my mind felt bad for backing Bella into a corner but it was the only way I was sure she was protected.

I quickly scanned the room looking for possible threats other than Charlie. Jasper, Peter and Emmett were on their knees, heads bowed. It was a smart decision for them if they wanted to live. Jasper knocked Charlie on his knees knowing that I would attack if he had stayed standing.

Alice and Charlotte were still standing but they had their heads bowed as a sign of submission. They were of no concern to me.

"Rose," Jasper called softly, trying to pull me from my protective stance. Jasper was being careful as a vampire protecting their mate was dangerous. He could easily lose a body part before he could even react.

"She's mine," I snarled looking at Charlie. I felt bad for snapping at Jasper but I couldn't help it. I was in protection mode and family meant very little to me at this moment.

"Rose," Bella called. My black eyes turned to her. My lip was curled back and I could feel the venom pooling in my mouth. I saw the fear in her eyes and it was killing me knowing she was afraid of me.

"She's scared," Jasper muttered even though I already knew that. He sent me her emotions and they almost knocked me over.

I stood up, never turning my back to Charlie. "I'm sorry," I whispered. I sniffed the air to make sure Bella wasn't hurt.

"I'm okay," she said wrapping her arms around my waist.

I heard Charlie growl us and I fought the urge to growl back. "Alice, please take Bella downstairs," I instructed. I didn't want her around for what was going to happen.


	21. Chapter 21

Bella

"Alice, shouldn't we be there?" I asked. I didn't think it was a good idea to leave Rosalie. I was a little concerned for Charlie's safety. I know Rosalie wouldn't hurt him but when he tried to touch me Rosalie freaked out. It was rather hot watching Rose get all protective of me but I was too worried about Charlie to focus on that.

Alice handed me a bottle of water. "No," she said. "Rosalie is very… unstable at the moment. It's best to steer clear."

I frowned. "Rose said it was impossible to hurt your mate," I muttered.

"It is," Alice agreed. "But Rosalie isn't really thinking clearly right now and Charlie is a newborn. You could get hurt by accident, which is why we are here. Jasper would rather keep me away too."

"Why is Charlie so angry?" I asked.

Alice sighed as we sat down at the table. "It's hard to tell," she said. "I don't think he remembers talking to Rosalie. It sounds like he just knows we left, not that some of us came back. It's a good thing Edward isn't here… Charlie may have ripped him apart if he saw him."

"And why did Rosalie react so strongly?" I wondered.

"Bella there is a lot about our world that you don't know," Alice began. "Rosalie should be the one to tell you it."

"Alice," I said. I wanted answers. I didn't want to wait for Rosalie to calm down. There was no telling if she would give me the information I wanted. Then again she did answer my questions before.

"Alright, calm down," Alice said. "I will explain but it may take some time. I'm not an expert on mates." I nodded and got up to get some orange juice. "Now, I know Rosalie told you about how protective we are of our mates."

I stayed silent and simply waited. "The dominant vampire, typically the male, is a lot more protective when it comes to their mate," Alice continued. "There is an unspoken rule that a male is not allowed to touch a mated female without permission."

I furrowed my brow in confusion. That didn't seem right. "But Emmett, Carlisle, Edward… even Jasper touch you guys all the time," I mumbled.

Alice laughed lightly. "That's true," Alice agreed, refilling my cup. "But the difference is we are a family, not a coven. Also the guys have permission to touch us girls. Carlisle and Jasper know Emmett is no threat to their relationship. It's not much of a problem for mated males because they have no desire for any other female."

Alice saw my confused expression and continued. "Unmated vampires can have sex with whomever they want," I blushed but Alice ignored it, "but for mated vampires it's not that easy. They don't have any sexual attraction to anyone but their mate. For example, you and Jasper," she paused and rolled her eyes, "oh shush you two, it's just an example."

"I'm guessing Rose and Jasper aren't happy about that example?" I questioned.

Alice rolled her eyes again. "It's mostly Rose, Jazz understands the point I'm trying to make. Rose is just overreacting," Alice said. I heard Rosalie growling.

"Is it really a good idea to provoke her when she is like this? What are they even doing?" I wondered. It was far too quiet upstairs.

"She's fine," Alice assured me. "Right now Emmett and Peter are trying to keep her from attacking Charlie and Jazz and Char are trying to fill Charlie in on what he missed so he can understand what is going on. As I was saying, you and Jasper could try to have sex but Jasper wouldn't have any sexual attraction to you. It would be like a… well a gay man sleeping with a woman." Alice giggled and I stared at her in confusion. "Sorry, Jazzy doesn't like that comparison but you get the idea."

I nodded. That did make sense. "So why did Rose react so strongly to Peter? He's a mated male."

Alice shook her head in exasperation. "Sometimes I worry about Peter," she muttered. "True he is mated but Rose has only met him a few times and she did not give him permission to touch you. He knew better than to touch you but he wasn't thinking."

"But he didn't hurt me," I said.

Alice sighed. "It doesn't matter," she said. "Even if his finger barely grazed you Rose would still be pissed off." Honestly vampire mating seemed a little ridiculous to me. To me it sounded like a bunch of vampires overreacting.

"She will calm down," Alice added. I looked up from my glass. She must have seen my next question. "Once you two consummate your relationship," I blushed again and she ignored it, again, "she will calm down."

"How do you know that?" I wanted to know. "Did you see it?" I prayed she wasn't seeing anything that personal. I would never be able to sleep with Rose if I thought Alice was watching.

Alice shook her head. "I haven't been looking too far into your future," she said. "I don't want to invade your privacy, any more than I already do. She will calm down though. I don't need my gift for that. When mates finally have sex their scents mix. Other vampires will smell her on you and you on her and they will know. We don't know how strong her scent will be on you because you're still human but it should be enough to tell."

I focused on my cup again. I really wanted to talk to Jasper but I wasn't sure how to ask. How do you tell your best friend you want to talk to her husband? I was supposed to be able to talk to Alice about this but I had a feeling Jasper would understand better.

"It's okay you know," Alice said pulling me from my thoughts. "I understand and when Jazz is sure Charlie is under control you can talk to him."

"Thanks Alice," I said grateful. Alice got up and hugged me.

"What are sisters for?" Alice asked smiling at me.

It took over an hour for them to settle whatever it was they were settling. Rosalie walked through the back door and I launched myself into her arms. I was worried Charlie had hurt her or something had happened. I wasn't sure why she was coming in the back door but I was too happy she alright to ask.

"I'm okay Bella," she assured me, seeing the panic on my face. She pulled me in for a passionate kiss.

A few seconds later I heard coughing coming from behind Rosalie. I blushed when I saw the rest of the family. Peter and Emmett had identical grins. Charlotte was smiling at us. Charlie looked uncomfortable, as did Jasper but for very different reasons.

"Sorry Jazz," I said blushing. The poor guy, my emotions, along with Rose's, were probably driving him crazy.

"It's fine Bella," he told me. "I'm happy you are happy. Now Charlie, I believe you have something to say to my sisters." His tone turned harsh when he spoke to Charlie.

Charlie turned his attention to Rosalie and I instinctively moved closer to her as if I could protect her. "I'm sorry for trying to take Bella away from you," he said. He turned to me. "It's good to see you Bells."

"You too Dad," I said. I longed to go to him and hug him but I knew better. It would have to wait. I shuddered slightly at the sight of his red eyes.

Charlie took half a step forward before Rosalie growled in warning. "How is he in control?" I asked. "I thought newborns had no control."

"They don't," Peter agreed. His Southern accent was more noticeable than before. "Jasper is absorbing most of his bloodlust, and making him calm. Later, when you are away we will start training him to get control on his own."

So that was why Jasper was acting like he did when we first met. It felt like he was avoiding me again. If he was absorbing Charlie's bloodlust then I couldn't blame him for keeping his distance. "Bella," Jasper called softly. "I was wondering if you would accompany me to town tomorrow. Alice says it's going to be cloudy and raining but I thought we could spend the day together."

I glanced at Rose and saw she was watching me. "You should go," she said. There was something in her tone I didn't like. I wasn't sure what it was but I had a feeling she knew I wanted to talk to Jasper and she didn't like it.

"Hold on," Charlie said stepping forward. As he moved so did everyone else. Rosalie pushed me behind her back to protect me in case he attacked. "Do you really think it's safe for Bella to be with him?" Charlie pointed to Jasper. "You guys even said he's killed more humans that the rest of you combined and has the weakest control."

I felt bad for my brother as I saw the pain on Jasper's face as he heard Charlie's comment. Alice crouched down and growled at Charlie in protection of her mate. Peter and Charlotte looked ready to defend their brother. Emmett moved closer to Charlie so he could grab him. Rosalie pushed us back in case Alice attacked.

"You forget Charlie that Bella is no longer yours to care for," Rosalie growled. "Human laws no longer apply. Your role of father is no longer needed. She is mine and there is nothing you can do about it, unless you would like to lose your arm again. I trust Jasper with my life and the life of my mate." Jasper's face lit up in happiness.

Charlie's eyes narrowed at Rosalie but I couldn't tell if he was angry at losing his arm, I would have to ask Rose about that, or the fact that he had lost his parenting rights. "I told you before, she is my daughter, just because you think you have some supernatural claim to her doesn't change that."

"And we told you that no longer meant anything," Peter said, aiming kick to the back of Charlie's legs. Charlie dropped to his knees. "You will leave them alone or you won't be seeing Bella again. I have doubt Rose would mind taking Bella far away from you."

"No problem at all," Rose said showing her teeth. "We are ready to leave at a moment's notice."

Charlie narrowed his eyes at Rosalie. "You're lying," he growled. "You're not going to take her away."

Rosalie's eyes widened in shock, it seemed Charlie was right and Rose was lying. But how did Charlie know that? I looked around at the others and they were equally shocked. Did Charlie have a gift? I shuddered at the thought. I was already a horrible liar but if Charlie could tell when I was lying it would be that much worse. Then again now that Charlie was a vampire I wouldn't have to lie about vampire stuff.

"Seems like Charlie has a gift," Peter announced. He wasn't too pleased about that.

"Yeah," Jasper said sighing. "We will have to ask Eleazar to be sure though." Who was Eleazar? I didn't get a chance to ask as Jasper felt my confusion. "He's part of the Denali coven. He has the ability to see vampire's gifts, as well as detect gifts in humans." It sounded like a useful gift to have but not to be on the receiving end of.

Rosalie tensed up as Charlie started shifting in his spot. "We need to go," Rose told me. "Charlie's getting uncomfortable with your scent." Rose pulled me into her arms, much to Charlie's annoyance, and ran from the house.

The next morning I got dressed in the clothes Alice had brought while I was sleeping. I tugged at the top hoping to make it longer and not so revealing. It seemed Alice thought I should look like a movie version of a cowgirl with cowboy boots, jeans and a plaid top that didn't cover my stomach. I put my hair up into a ponytail and groaned at my reflection. Never again would I let Alice pick out my outfit.

"Bella," Rose called knocking on my door. She stayed away from my bedroom while I got ready. I wondered if that was Alice's idea.

"Come in," I said softly, half hoping she wouldn't hear me. I figured she would see me sooner or later and I guess now was better than after I spent the day with Jasper.

I jumped when I saw Rosalie in the mirror. I didn't hear her open the door. I turned around but before I realized what was going on Rosalie had me pinned against the wall, her lips moving firmly against mine. It took me a moment to realize my legs were wrapped around her waist and she was holding me up.

After about a minute Rose pulled away and growled. "My siblings really don't want me having any fun," Rose groaned and I laughed.

The doorbell rang and I went to answer it. Jasper was standing on the other side of the door wearing jeans, a plaid long-sleeve button down shirt, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. In his left hand was another cowboy hat, almost identical to the one he was wearing. It looked as if Alice wanted us to match.

"Hello Darlin'," Jasper greeted bowing slightly. He didn't bother hiding his Southern accent. He handed me the hat. "This is from Charlotte. She wanted you to have a real Southern experience."

"Thanks," I said putting the hat on.

Jasper looked past me to Rosalie. "I'll have her back sometime after dinner," he said.

Rose gave a short nod. I went to her side and gave her a quick kiss. She pulled me against her body and I could feel her breath on my hair. "Have fun," she said after finally letting me go.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" I asked concerned. I didn't want to leave her if she was just going to wait for me.

She nodded. "I'm going to go hunting with Alice and we will get some shopping done," she told me. The grin on her face when she mentioned shopping scared me. It was the same look Alice had when she talked about shopping.

"What are you planning?" I demanded.

"You need a car," she reminded me after a moment's hesitation. Rose stopped me before I could protest. "Alice is going too." I groaned and Jasper chuckled behind me. "She will be able to see which vehicle you will like."

"Can you make it a truck?" I asked hopeful. I know there was no way I could talk Rose out of buying me a vehicle. She had wanted to buy me one since she came back, most likely before then. So if I had to get one I wanted a truck.

"Anything you want my love," Rosalie promised. She gave me one final kiss before gently pushing me to Jasper.

I followed Jasper to an expensive looking motorcycle. "This is Peter's," Jasper explained. "Alice is going to pick me up one when they buy your truck."

"So where are we going?" I asked carefully climbing on the bike. The last thing I wanted to do was fall and start bleeding in front of Jasper. I didn't know if Rose would be fast enough to stop Jasper from attacking and I wasn't eager to find out.

Jasper helped me stay upright before climbing on the bike in front of me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his shoulder. "You will see when we get there," he called over the noise of the bike.

"Is this alright?" I asked, referring to how close I was to him. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"It's fine," he replied. "I hunted this morning before coming over. I promise not to hurt you."

"I know. I trust you," I told him truthfully.

He chuckled. "You really are the strangest human," he commented.

The rest of the trip was silent as it was hard for me to hear over the noise. It wasn't raining yet but it looked like it was going to start at any moment. I watched as we headed back to Houston. We passed by the restaurant Rose and I went to. A couple blocks down the road Jasper turned right and slowed down. After the third street he turned left into a parking lot.

"A history museum," I said surprised.

Jasper turned the bike off and helped me off. "Rose mentioned you enjoy history," Jasper said.

I wondered how Rose knew that. I don't remember ever telling her that but she probably listened in on some conversation. It had to have been a conversation with Emmett as I never told Edward about my fascination with history.

I followed him into the museum. Jasper paid our entry fees, $10 per person, and placed a $50 bill into the donation box. Jasper glanced at me when he paid, wondering if I was going to protest. I would have but I didn't have money to pay for myself so I had no choice but to allow Jasper to pay.

We walked through the gift shop and into the exhibits. "The civil war," I muttered when I saw a confederate uniform on display. I should have known.

"Yes," Jasper said nodding. "I know I told you about my past but I figured this was a better way for you to understand."

"Do you still have your uniform?" I asked.

"I do," Jasper said. "I have all my civil war memorabilia in a safe at the house."

"Why don't you take it with you?"

"We move so much that I didn't want to lose it. It made sense to leave it here," he answered.

We took our time going through the museum. Jasper would comment on the displays which I was grateful. It made the museum even better than it already was. Jasper's commentary added little tidbits of information that I would have never have learned if it wasn't for Jasper.

At the end of the tour Jasper pointed something out. It was a photo of a group of soldiers. I looked closely, knowing Jasper wouldn't have pointed it out for nothing. It took a moment but I found Jasper in the photo. "Oh my god," I breathed. "That's you, when you were human."

"Yes ma'am," Jasper confirmed. "When I changed the army told my parents I was missing in action. My mother was heartbroken and packed up all my stuff. When my family died I made sure to buy the house. When I heard the museum was opening I donated some pictures and medals I was given."

We stopped in the gift shop and Jasper bought me a few civil war books that he felt were the best. One book was a novel, written in the perspective of one of the soldiers while the others were history books.

"Are you hungry?" Jasper asked.

I thought about it for a second before shaking my head. "Not yet," I told him.

"Alright then," he said looking thoughtful. "We will move onto our next stop then."

"What's our next stop?" I asked nervously.

Jasper chuckled. "What do you think about haunted buildings?" he questioned.

I shrugged. "I've never been to one," I admitted.

Jasper sighed dramatically and I was starting to think he was spending too much time with Alice. "We need to fix that then. Next stop, Battleship Texas," he announced. I laughed at his enthusiasm and climbed back onto Peter's motorcycle.

Jasper sped through town. It took about ten minutes to get to a parking lot at the coast. We climbed off and I felt a few rain drops. Jasper handed me the jacket that was strapped to the bike. "Rose would kill me if you got sick and Alice forgot to get you a jacket when planning your outfit."

I thanked him for the jacket and we walked to the ship. Jasper once again paid the entrance fees. We were about half way through the tour when I realized Jasper was no longer by me. I looked around for him but there was no sign of my Southern brother.

"Boo," a voice called in my ear and I screamed. "Bella," the voice called and I instantly relaxed.

It was Jasper. "You're a jerk," I said pushing him. He didn't move but it did make me feel better.

"Are you alright miss?" an older gentleman questioned. He looked between me and Jasper.

"Yes sir," I said politely. "My brother was pretending to be a ghost to scare me. Sorry to disturb you." The man watched up for a few more seconds before nodding to himself and walking away. When he was out of earshot I turned to Jasper. "What was that about?"

"He doesn't believe I'm your brother," Jasper muttered just loud enough for me to hear. "He thinks I am trying to kidnap you but he can't do anything unless you say something. He's a cop," Jasper added.

"Did you use your gift?" I wondered. I figured he did as the man gave up rather easily.

Jasper nodded. "I used it so he would trust me and leave us alone," he admitted.

An hour later we finished the tour and we now seated at a diner. Jasper was picking at his food, taking bites here and there. I was surprised he was doing that much. I know Rose only did it because I was her mate.

"Are you alright?" Jasper asked concerned.

I looked up from my plate. "I'm fine," I lied. Jasper raised an eyebrow at me and I sighed. Sometimes having an empath for a brother was a pain. "I was just thinking," Jasper gave me a boost of confidence and I glared at him. He grinned sheepishly and my emotions returned to normal. "I was just wondering if life would have been different if Edward and I were never together," I continued.

"It most likely would be," Jasper said. "For one Rosalie would have insisted we hunted down Victoria and she would have taken you and run and you wouldn't have been able to escape her."

I flinched. I had forgotten about that and it seemed Jasper still didn't forgive me for tricking them. "Sorry," I mumbled.

Jasper sighed. "It's fine, I got over it, mostly," he said.

"Do you think Rose and I would have been together sooner?" I asked, munching on a French fry.

"I have no doubt you would have," Jasper said. He hesitated for a moment. During that time he checked his phone. Satisfied with whatever he saw he nodded to himself. "When you first came to Forks the family was split. I apologize in advance for regarding how we felt about you but all we knew was you were Edward's singer. Rosalie and I wanted to dispose of you to take away the temptation." Jasper winced and my heart clenched at the thought of Rosalie wanting to kill me. "Emmett didn't care either way. Carlisle and Esme were against killing an innocent human and Alice, well she had a vision that you two were going to be best friends. That's what changed my mind about you. I couldn't hurt Alice like that."

"Rosalie wanted me dead," I muttered looking down.

Jasper stood up and pushed me aside so he could sit next to me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "She didn't know you," he said softly. "She didn't know you were her mate. Trust me. She still hates herself for that."

"When did she figure it out?" I asked. Jasper projected his confusion. "When did she figure out I was her mate?" I clarified.

"The day Edward saved you from the van," Jasper replied. "Do you remember that?"

"Vividly," I said shuddering. Occasionally I had nightmares about that day.

"You locked eyes with Rose that day," Jasper reminded me. "I don't know if you looking at her, or her looking at you, was intentional or not but that's when she figured it out."

"She looked so angry though," I said, remembering the murderous glare Rosalie had that day.

Jasper nodded. "She was," he agreed. "But she was angry at Edward for almost exposing us and she was angry at Tyler for almost killing you and she was so confused about what she was feeling."

I focused on my French fries again. Jasper dumped his on my plate when no one was paying attention. Sooner or later I had to bring up the reason I wanted to talk to him but I was too embarrassed to do it now.

"Alice told me you wanted to talk to me," Jasper said. Dang, he was going to bring it up himself. "She didn't mention what you wanted to talk about but I have a feeling I know. It's about Rosalie isn't it?"

I nodded. "It is," I admitted.

"I can feel your embarrassment," Jasper commented. "So I won't make you say it but I want to make sure I'm right. You're wanting a more… how should I put this… a more physical relationship?" I blushed and Jasper chuckled. "I take that as a yes. What I don't understand is why you are talking to me about it and not her."

I mumbled a reply under my breath. Jasper cocked his head to the side. "I see," he said. He was staring at me and honestly it was a little creepy. I shifted in my seat. "My apologies, I was reading your emotions. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. You don't need to be afraid you know."

I frowned. "What do you mean?" I asked. It was still weird knowing Jasper knew my emotions better than I did.

"You're afraid Rosalie won't find you attractive," Jasper explained.

"Yeah," I mumbled looking down. It was the hardest part of being with a vampire. Rosalie was so… perfect and I'm not. It was hard to imagine us together like that.

"She does," Jasper said. "She loves you more than anything. This is how attracted she is to you." He pushed a mixture of emotion that almost knocked me out. The lust was overwhelming. He chuckled as my own lust increased. "Maybe I should have waited on that," he mused.

"You think," I groaned trying to get my hormones under control. A few seconds later my emotions were back to normal. My thoughts took a strange turn and I wondered if Jasper ever used his ability on Alice. I felt my cheeks heat up.

Jasper stiffened slightly beside me. "What has got you embarrassed?" he asked. He relaxed after a minute. He must have been worried about trying to attack me.

"I was, uh, just wondering if you ever used your gift on Alice, you know like you just did me," I mumbled.

To my surprise Jasper chuckled. "Emmett asked the same thing after we joined the family," he said. "I wasn't very happy about that then."

"Why not?" I asked curious.

Jasper frowned. "Alice told you a little about mating right?" I nodded. "Well Alice and I were a newly mated couple when we met the Cullens. I wasn't comfortable around other vampires and extremely protective of Alice. So when we got there and a big burly unmated vampire starts making comments like that it got to me."

"You knew that soon that Rose and Emmett weren't actually together?" I asked surprised.

Jasper nodded. "I didn't smell them on each other for one," he explained. "And their emotions were all wrong. Rose loves Emmett as a brother but there has never been anything more than that between them, no matter how often they pretend to be a couple."

"How long did it take before you got comfortable?" I wondered. They all seemed like a big happy family now. I couldn't imagine Emmett and Jasper not getting along.

"For me and Emmett not long at all, maybe a week at the most," Jasper replied. "For Edward and I a lot longer, a couple months actually. I didn't like that he could read my mind and the bond him and Alice formed made me nervous."

"Jazz," I called softly. He glanced at my face. "Thanks for today. It was fun."

He smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.


	22. Chapter 22

Rosalie

"How did she take it?" I asked hesitantly.

Alice winced and I tensed up. "She's upset," Alice replied slowly. "But Jasper is doing what he can to help."

I knew telling Bella about my feelings toward her in the beginning was a bad idea but Alice insisted. She said it wouldn't be fair to keep it hidden from her. But now my mate was hurt because of her, because of me.

"She's fine Rosalie," Alice said rolling eyes at me. "Jasper explained it to her and she understands."

I glared at my sister but kept my mouth shut. "Is she alright?" I asked. It was hard being away from her, especially for this long.

I could feel her despite how far away she was. It was like a rope that connected us together. The further apart we were the more it hurt. It was worse for newly mated couples than it was for couples who had been together for a while. That was why Alice was calm compared to me. I wonder if Bella could feel it. It was hard to tell with her still being human.

"She's fine," Alice repeated. "She misses you but she is enjoying her time with Jasper. They have a lot in common and it's good bonding for them."

I sighed. I did want them to bond. Out all of us Bella had spent the least amount of time with Jasper because Edward didn't trust him. But I didn't want to be away from her for so long. I still want to know what Bella wanted to talk to him about but Alice refused to tell me. She said it was none of my business.

Emmett had to stop me from attacking her for that comment while Peter told me I needed to get laid. Charlotte smacked him for me as Emmett was still holding onto me. Emmett made me realize that Alice was right. Bella should be able to talk to whoever she wants. But I don't understand why she would want to talk to him instead of me. She should be able to talk to me about anything.

I frowned trying to figure out what Jasper had that I didn't. Did she trust him more than me? No, that didn't seem right. While I knew she trusted him she didn't know him that well. For the most part she knew him as the quiet older brother that stayed back and read our emotions so he could keep us calm.

That was it. I felt like such an idiot and mentally smacked myself. Jasper understood emotions better than anyone. Whatever Bella was feeling he would know and be able to help her through it. Once again I was cursing the fact that I didn't have my sibling's gifts. Normally it didn't bother me but when it came to Bella it did.

"Come on Rose," Alice said pulling into the parking lot of the car dealership.

"Whatever you are planning you better stop," I warned my sister. She was way too excited to be buying a truck for Bella.

I already had the truck picked out. I had it picked out before she asked for a truck. It was a new truck, which I knew was going to upset her, but it was good for her, big and sturdy to help protect her. If she got into an accident she wouldn't be hurt too badly, at least that was my hope. The truck I picked out was a blue Chevy Avalanche. It was one of the nicer ones in my opinion and I really hoped she loved it.

"She will love it," Alice said beside me. "Although I really wish you would have let me pick something more appropriate for her."

I raised a perfect eyebrow at my sister. Appropriate to her meant fast and expensive, and while I had the same taste in cars I knew Bella didn't and I would rather her have a regular car, or truck, that she liked and actually used than an expensive car she didn't like.

"Why don't you get Jasper's motorcycle while I get Bella's truck?" I suggested anything to keep Alice away while I went shopping.

Alice apparently knew that was trying to get rid of her and pouted. "Fine, "she said agreed getting a scary look in her eye. "But I'm getting Bella one too."

My jaw dropped and my eyes widened in horror at the thought of Bella, my clumsy and still very much human, mate on a motorcycle. The thought made me sick, if that was possible. I didn't like when she bought those piece of shit bikes and took them to Jacob to get them fixed. I didn't want her on a motorcycle at all, not while she was human. Most vehicular accidents came from motorcycle accidents and I refused to let her be one of them.

I also refused to control her. So if she still wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle I wouldn't stop her. I would, however, join her. Alice started bouncing next to me. "I'll have to get one for you and me," she exclaimed happily. Her smile quickly turned to a frown.

"What is it?" I asked. I started panicking. Was Bella hurt? Did Victoria or someone else find her?

"Charlie isn't going to be happy," she said sadly. "He still doesn't understand."

I growled too softly for the humans nearby to here. "He is getting on my last nerve," I said through my teeth. I know he only wanted to protect Bella. It's why I haven't killed him yet. But if he keeps it up I will take Bella away from him. I don't know how he knew I was lying to him, well we had an idea, but I won't allow him to be near my Bella if he's going to overreact to everything.

"I know Rose," Alice said sympathetically. We walked to the office. The truck was already picked so there was no need to stay outside longer than necessary. "He is a newborn though. Give him time and I'm sure he will come around."

"Can you see it?" I asked lowering my voice. There were three people in line ahead of us. So we stood behind some middle aged couple and continued our conversation.

"Bits and pieces," Alice admitted. "He's becoming clearer and I'm starting to see his future but I still can't see too far ahead, speaking of which, stop with the decisions to leave with Bella. I've seen the outcome of that and Bella won't be happy about it, not to mention the rest of us. You two at Jasper's house should be more than enough distance." Damn, I found out a lot time ago to never bet against Alice. If she said taking Bella and running was a bad idea then I trusted her. But it didn't stop me from wanting to leave.

We finally got to the front of the line and it didn't take long to get Bella's truck. We drove off to the Ducati dealership in separate vehicles. I drove Bella's truck while Alice drove her new Porsche that she bought earlier in the day.

We parked the vehicles in an isolated spot so we could load the two bikes into the back without anyone noticing. We will ride the bikes here after getting them to make it easier on us. Alice planned on bringing Jasper back at some point to get the bikes for the two of us.

Alice and I ran to a spot just outside the Ducati dealership. It was a rather open area but Alice assured me no one would notice us. "Why don't you find a bike for Bella while I get the sales person?" she suggested.

I agreed and headed to the long row of bikes. I immediately ruled out some of the bigger ones. Bella would have a hard time controlling it. After a rather heated debate with myself I decided on a red Hypermotard SP. I just hoped she liked it.

"Good choice Rose," Alice said dancing to my side. "She will love it."

"That is a very good bike," the salesman said. He smiled at me in what I assumed was supposed to be a flirty smile. Unfortunately for him it just looked creepy. "Do you ride?"

"No," I replied. "The bike is for my girlfriend."

I smirked as his face fell. Alice was laughing quietly enough so he couldn't hear her. "I want that one," Alice said pointing to the bike that was identical to the one Peter had. "It's for my husband," she added before the boy could ask.

He looked even more upset but unlocked the bikes so we could wheel them back to the front. We left the bikes in the front with another salesman. Alice went to fill out of the paperwork while I went to look at the riding gear.

We all needed helmets, Alice was not happy about that, and I wanted to get Bella a riding jacket, gloves, boots and pants. It was a little much but it would make me feel better. I picked out some gear for Jasper too, figuring if Jazz was dressed up she wouldn't mind it as much.

Once the gear was picked out, including helmets for Alice and I, just in case we wanted to ride with the two, I moved on to the other useful supplies. The cashier was nice enough to let me store my things behind the register until I was done. I'm fairly certain she was just happy I was spending a lot of money.

I grabbed two antitheft systems. They weren't needed at our houses but out in the city there was bound to be someone stupid enough to steal any expensive motorcycle. I moved the two devices into my left hand and made my way to the bike covers and cleaning supplies.

Last on my list, at least for now, were a couple of repair kits to keep with the bikes in case something happened. With me around to regularly check the bikes they should be fine but better safe than sorry where Bella was concerned.

Alice came into the store as the cashier rang up my purchases. The cashier's eyes got bigger and bigger as each item was rang up. It was rather comical. By the time she finished I thought her head was going to explode.

The helmets alone were over $300 each and add to the fact that we got four, on top of everything else, and I spent well over $3,000 on Bella and Jasper's equipment. "Should we get Emmett something?" I asked my sister as the cashier bagged up our stuff.

Alice shook her head. "He has his jeep," she said. "You know he's not that into automobiles. As long as he has his jeep he's happy."

"Well he has Peter's Xbox," I muttered. "We could get him a PlayStation for Jasper's house."

"You know it's your house too," Alice said.

"I know," I said halfheartedly. I never viewed Jasper's house as my own. It was one of the few things he had from his human life and he shouldn't be forced to share. I was looking into some properties nearby, hoping to by my own house to share with Bella. Bella won't be happy about it but Alice and Jasper should be in his house.

"I know what you are planning," Alice reminded me as I filled out the paperwork so they would ship everything, except two helmets, to Jasper's house. Once I finished we headed to the bikes. "I would talk to Bella before you go out and buy a house." She was right. Bella would be very upset if I bought a house without talking to her first.

We rode the bikes back to the vehicles and carefully put them in the back. I closed the back stood back satisfied. No one would ever know we had two motorcycles back there. "So Best Buy?" Alice asked. I nodded and climbed into the truck.

The trip to Best Buy was a lot shorter than our other stops. We picked up a PlayStation 3 for Emmett along with every violent game we could find as well as more accessories than Emmett will ever need. I made sure to get a couple extra controllers since Emmett had a habit of breaking them.

"Are we done for the day?" I asked. As a vampire I never got tired but I was getting tired of running all over the city. We had accomplished a lot today. Far more than any human would be able to accomplish. Then again we also spent more than the average family makes in a year.

"Yeah we are done," Alice agreed. "Bella and Jasper will be home twenty minutes after we get back. That will give us plenty of time to unpack our clothes and Emmett's toys."

We drove back to the house. I parked Bella's truck in the garage and Alice helped me unload the bikes. After that was settled we went upstairs. I unpacked my clothes while Alice unpacked Bella's. While I did love shopping and fashion I left the closet organizing to Alice. As I tossed plastic bags aside I could hear Alice muttering under her breath about how the closet wasn't big enough and if she could convince Jasper to let her do some expansions.

I chuckled. No matter how much he loved her there was no way he would let her remodel his house in anyway, especially not so she could make bigger closets. "Oh shut up," Alice hissed in frustration, causing me to laugh harder. Eventually she had to put clothes into the dresser, which she hated to do because of the wrinkles. I love my sister but I swear she had some screws loose before she was changed.

I had been a lot more practical when I was shopping and all my clothes fit easily into my closet. I tossed the bags into the trash can and checked the time. Any minute now my Bella would be home and the ache in my chest would be gone.

I could hear the motorcycle down the street. They were almost here. "I'm glad I'm not Jasper," Alice muttered from downstairs.

I growled at her and swiftly went outside. They pulled up moments later. Bella had her head resting on Jasper's back and was wearing his jacket. I resisted the very strong urge to growl at him and show him she belonged to me. They climbed off the bike and I caught his scent all over her.

"Calm down," Alice said grabbing my arm. "They've spent all day together. You knew this was going to happen."

Jasper had his eyes trained on me, waiting for the snap. He whispered something in Bella's ear quietly enough so I couldn't hear and then slowly backed away from her.

Bella turned her attention to me and smiled. She walked straight into my arms. "I missed you," she muttered wrapping her arms around my neck.

"I missed you too my Bella," I said breathing in her scent. Her scent was the one thing that could calm me no matter how angry I was. "Did you have fun with Jasper?"

"I did," she said nodding. "Although Jasper thought it was funny to scare me on a haunted ship."

I raised my eyebrow at my brother. That was such an Emmett move. He grinned at me. "I was just having a little fun," he said, still grinning.

Bella glared at him. "I'm glad you had fun," she huffed and he laughed. "Thanks again for today Jasper." She pulled away from me so she could hug my brother.

"Anytime Darlin'," he said. "Just remember what I said okay?" He looked up at me, feeling my curiosity, and shook his head. "She will tell you when she's ready," he said quietly enough that Bella didn't hear.

I gave a slight nod. "We should go," Alice said, tugging on Jasper's arm. I narrowed my eyes at her. She was up to something. There was no way she would turn down showing Bella her closet unless she had a vision about something. "Bye guys," she called climbing on the bike behind Jasper.

"That was weird," Bella muttered when they were out of earshot. Even she noticed Alice was up to something.

"Very," I agreed. "But it's Alice. Come on, I have something to show you." I turned and started walking back to the house. I stopped when I didn't hear her footsteps. I turned around and saw the nervous expression on her face. I didn't blame her. I went back to her. "I won't lie," I told her. "Alice had a hard time getting everything to fit in your closet, eventually she gave up and used the dresser, and she hates using dressers." Bella gulped loudly. "There's something else I want to show you though."

I took Bella to the garage first, hoping it would distract her from the mountain of clothes in her room. "Oh my god," she gasped when she caught sight of her new truck.

"Do you like it?" I asked nervous. I was sure she would when I bought it but now that she was here I was scared she wouldn't like it.

"I love it," she said smiling at me. I sighed in relief. "It looks, uh, sturdy."

I laughed. I had forgotten Bella knew nothing about cars. "It is very sturdy," I assured her. I opened the door and let her climb in. The truck had several features she didn't know anything about but she would learn quickly enough.

"What are those?" she asked pointing to the bikes. She had climbed out of the truck and we were getting ready to go back inside the house when she spotted them.

"That is Jasper's motorcycle," I said, completely ignoring the fact that there were two.

"Okay, but why are there two of them?" she pressed.

Crap. "Well, uh, um," I stuttered. "Alice decided to get you one so you could ride with Jasper." Bella frowned and I knew she was coming up with some argument as to why she couldn't accept the bike. "You asked Jacob to fix those bikes before so Alice figured you wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle."

"So she decided to buy me a really expensive bike that I will most likely end up crashing?" Bella asked raising an eyebrow.

I winced at the thought. If she crashed the bike she would get hurt or possibly killed and I didn't like that image. "Actually I picked out the bike," I said. "It's similar to the one Jacob was going to rebuild. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. I can give it to Emmett instead."

I didn't realize how excited I was for Bella to see the bike until she practically rejected it. "I don't know how to ride a motorcycle," she said.

"Jasper can teach you," I said. Was she actually opening up to the idea?

"Charlie's not going to be happy," she muttered running her hand over the handlebars.

My eyes narrowed. "Charlie doesn't have much of a choice," I said. "If you want to ride then there is nothing he can do to stop you."

"Will you ride with me sometime?" she asked and my face lit up. Not only was she accepting my gift but she wanted me to ride with her.

"Anytime you want my love," I said pulling her in for a kiss. "I should warn you though. I bought you a lot of stuff to go with the bike but if it helps I got the same thing for Jasper too."

She groaned as I led her upstairs so she could see all the clothes Alice bought for her. I did help her out and pick out some jeans and some simple T-shirts. There was one particular shirt I was proud of. After some convincing, and threats to Alice's shoes, I managed to convince her to go into Hot Topic where I found a Journey T-shirt that I knew Bella would love.

Bella groaned when she saw the neatly stocked closet. I chuckled and started searching for the shirt. It wasn't there so I went to the dresser. Eventually I found it hidden under four other shirts. "Here," I said handing it to her.

She took the shirt, a little too hesitantly for my liking. "Journey," she squealed. Her face lit up at the sight. "Thank you." She threw herself into my arms.

"I'll glad you like it," I said kissing the top of her head.

"So," she said. I heard her heart speed up. "Can we talk?"


	23. Chapter 23

_I'm not thrilled with this chapter but if I were to wait until I was completely satisfied it may never be posted._

_Thanks for reading and reviewing!_

* * *

><p>Bella<p>

Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have said that.

It had been five minutes since I asked Rose if we could talk and she was still frozen in her spot. I was going to call Alice but she sent me a text saying Rose was alright, she just needed a chance to think. While it did make me feel better I still didn't know what to do.

"Rose," I called softly.

It took another thirty seconds, I actually counted the seconds, for her to respond. She slowly started to move and her eyes went straight to mine. The look in her eye scared me. She looked like someone had set her on fire. The pain in her eyes was unlike anything I had ever seen. The pain in Edward's eyes when I was at the ballet studio was nothing compared to this. The worst part was I had caused it.

"Rose," I said again, stepping toward her. I half expected her to move away from me but she didn't. She stayed in her spot. "Can you sit?" She didn't look at me. She just sat down on my bed and waited. "Can you say something please?" I practically begged. She was really starting to scare me.

"Don't do this Bella," she whispered. "Don't leave me."

I was so confused. How did this go from an embarrassing conversation about sex to me apparently leaving her. "Rose, I'm not going anywhere," I promised sitting down beside her. She finally looked at me.

"You're not?" she asked confused.

I shook my head. "I'm not," I confirmed. "I wanted to talk to you about something, but I swear I'm not leaving you."

She sighed in relief. "I couldn't figure out why you wanted to talk to Jasper," she said. "And then when you said you wanted to talk… well that's generally the start of a breakup."

I winced. I guess that wasn't the best way to start off a conversation. "I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean it to come out like that. I'm just really nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" Rosalie asked taking my hand. I shivered at the contact. Rose assumed it was because I was cold and let me go. I quickly grabbed her hand.

"Well I, um, you see…" I tried. This was a lot harder to get out than I thought. Rosalie waited patiently for me to continue. She stroked the back of my hand with her thumb. "I want you," I finally blurted out. I didn't have the guts to look at Rosalie as I continued, "you want me to have human experiences before I'm changed. With Charlie a vampire and Victoria still out there there's no reason to stay human." I felt her stiffen beside me. "My point is I want to be with you, I want to make love to you while I'm still human."

The silence was starting to make me nervous so I risked glancing at her face. She had a small smile. "Do you mean that?" she asked softly. I nodded. She leaned toward me and kissed me.

I pulled her on top of me and started unbuttoning my top. Unfortunately Rosalie grabbed my hands before I could undo more than one button. "Not yet," she whispered kissing down my neck. "I want it to be perfect for you. Can you give me a few days?"

"Sure," I agreed sadly. It sounded like a rejection and that hurt.

"It's not a rejection," Rosalie said pulling me against her. I guess Edward was right. I am easy to read. She carefully redid the button. "You deserve a perfect first time and honestly, so I do."

I felt guilty for thinking badly about Rosalie. I had forgotten her first, and only time, was when her ex-finance and his friends gang raped her. This was a big step for her too. "If you're not comfortable we don't have to."

I could see the surprise in her gold eyes. "Bella," she said, sitting up. She pulled me up next to her. "I want you more than anything, including blood. I will admit, the thought makes me a little nervous but it's not because of you. Okay?"

"Okay," I repeated, leaning against her. She hugged me against her body and I closed my eyes.

I woke up the next morning alone in my bed. I was still wearing the clothes I had on the day before but I was tucked into bed. I climbed out of bed and looked around my room. There was a note on the nightstand.

_Bella_, it read.

_I went over to Peter and Charlotte's to talk to Alice about our plans so she can make some arrangements for the others, namely Charlie._

_I will need to go out hunting before I return to you._

_I love you,_

_Rosalie_

I wasn't sure how long she would be gone so I went downstairs to make some breakfast. I stuck with something simple, eggs and toast. I wasn't all that hungry. After I ate I cleaned up the dishes. Rose had been spoiling me and I hadn't cooked or cleaned in days. It felt good to get back my old habits.

Two hours later and Rosalie was still not back. I picked my phone up over a dozen times and each time I put it back down without ever calling her. I didn't want to call and sound like the clingy girlfriend so I waited.

"Bella," Emmett's voice boomed. I jumped at the sound and Emmett laughed.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I looked around for Rosalie but there was no sign of her.

"She went hunting with Charlie and Jasper," Emmett told me. "She wanted a chance to talk to him before our trip."

"Trip?" I repeated confused.

"Alice is planning a hunting trip for all of us, except Rosalie of course," Emmett said grinning. I groaned. That meant he knew. "So, want to talk about it?" He wagged his eyebrows at me.

"Emmett Dale McCarty, leave her alone," Rosalie said from the doorway. I sighed in relief and went over to her side. "Sorry I took so long. I had a long talk with Charlie."

"How did that go?" I asked.

Rosalie turned to Emmett and raised an eyebrow. "You know I have something to do," Emmett said. "See ya Bells. I expect details."

"It went well," Rosalie said once he was gone. "We came to an understanding. I will try to respect that he is your father and in turn he will try to respect our relationship. It's not going to be easy but it should keep us from trying to kill each other."

"I'm glad," I said hugging her. I looked down. I should have stood up for him but I was afraid of upsetting Rose, or getting in the middle and getting hurt.

"You can see him," she said, as if she knew what I was thinking. "He's not upset with you. I'm sorry, for making you decide between me and your father and for making you afraid of standing up for him."

"Rose," I said but she shook her head.

"This isn't easy for me," she said. "Being newly mated and having your father around but it's no excuse. Alice made me see that I was acting like Edward and I'm sorry for that."

"You are nothing like Edward," I said softly. It was true. She protected me while still giving me a choice. It was more than Edward had ever done. He had a habit of taking away my choices, like sucking the venom out even though I wanted to be changed.

Rosalie smiled and held me close to her. "So Alice has requested she take you shopping," Rosalie said. I gulped. "I made her swear on her shoes not to go out of control. There are a few things she wanted you to have that we didn't get yesterday."

"I thought she already bought everything in the stores," I mumbled against her cold shoulder. Rosalie laughed.

"Not quite," she said. "It wasn't from lack of trying though."

"I'll go get ready then," I said, making no move to pull away from Rose. Rosalie eventually let me go so I could get in the shower.

I took my time in hopes of postponing my shopping trip with Alice. A ten minute shower took thirty minutes. I wiped the condensation off the mirror and stared at my reflection. The dark circles under my eyes were gone now that I was sleeping through the night. I looked healthy for the first time since my eighteenth birthday party. It looked like I gained ten to fifteen pounds but I was far from overweight. I looked healthy instead of overly skinny. For the first time in my life I was happy with what I saw.

"Isabella McCarty, stop checking yourself out in the mirror and get down here," Alice yelled. The name surprised me. I had forgotten I changed my name.

I heard a thud and Rose laughing. She must have thrown something at Alice. Not wanting to feel Alice's wrath I made my way downstairs. They were waiting in the living room. Alice was stamping her foot impatiently while Rosalie was sitting comfortably on the couch.

"About time," Alice grumbled. I laughed which made her glare at me.

"Enough Alice," Rosalie said glaring at her sister.

"Come on," Alice said grabbing my arm. "Thanks to your long shower we are behind schedule."

I checked my cellphone. "It's not even noon," I said frowning. "How much shopping are we going to do?"

"Not much," Alice said quickly. I didn't believe her for a minute.

"You know I don't have room for whatever you are planning," I reminded her. My wardrobe for Forks and Phoenix combined wasn't as large as my wardrobe here.

"Don't worry, I got it covered," Alice said winking at me. Now I'm definitely scared. Whatever she's planning can't be good for me. "Let's go."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the house and into her car. I didn't even get a chance to say bye to Rose. I rolled down the window and waved, hoping Rosalie saw me. "Where are we going?" I asked as she drove down the driveway.

"Not telling," Alice said firmly. "If I tell you, you will call Rose and refuse to go. This way I can get you into the store."

Now I was really scared. "Alice," I began but she didn't let me finish.

"No," she said. "I know your plan," I blushed, "and you are going to do this, whether you like it or not." I gave up trying to argue with her. Any argument I could come up with would be seen by Alice and she would know exactly how to counter it. It was very frustrating.

I kept my eyes on the road as Alice drove through town. I still had no idea where we are going but I knew it was some place I hadn't been to yet.

I didn't even notice the car had stopped until Alice tapped my shoulder. We climbed out of the car and walked toward the store. That was when I figured out where we were. "Alice," I groaned reading the Fredrick's sign.

I've never been to this store before but I knew about it and it was one I never wanted to go into. I caught sight of one of the displays and I pictured Rosalie wearing a lace teddy. I blushed and Alice laughed. "I knew you would see it my way," she said grinning.

I groaned and looked around for the nearest wall to bang my head on. Alice grabbed my arm before I could move. "Don't you dare," she said. "Bleeding will not get you out of this. It will just postpone the inevitable and if we have to postpone it will be worse for you."

I gulped and went to the closest rack. The sooner I did what Alice wanted the sooner we could leave. I blushed at the first item I saw. It was purple lace panties with a matching bra. It wasn't too bad but upon further inspection I found out they were crotchless panties.

I quickly put them back on the rack and moved onto another section. I would never voluntarily wear anything in this shop so I decided to wait until Alice forced me to try things on.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Alice said rolling her eyes.

A saleswoman came up to us and asked if we needed any help. I watched as Alice slipped her a $100 bill and asked her to keep a dressing room open. I shook my head at her. It was nice that the Cullen's, well Whitlock's and McCarty's now, were helping out the humans by giving them huge tips but they still went a little overboard. Half the time I wondered if they realized they over tipped, or realized they didn't need to tip for certain things.

Alice shoved several things in my arms and told the saleswoman to take me to the dressing room. I allowed myself to be escorted away from Alice. It wasn't until I was inside the safety of the dressing room that I realized what I was holding. "I am not wearing crotchless panties," I hissed, knowing Alice could hear me. I could picture her pouting in the middle of the store.

I tossed them aside and focused on the others things. The underwear was set aside as you weren't supposed to be trying that on. I picked up the first bra, a black lace bra that was see-through. I sighed. I don't know why Alice was bothering. It wasn't like I was going to look good in it, especially not next to Rosalie.

I sat down on the bench in the dressing room. What was I thinking? Rosalie was a goddess and I was… plain, ordinary and boring. I shook my head. I will just have to tell her we can't do this. It was better to stop before we started because I couldn't handle the rejection.

"Bella," Alice said with a knock on the dressing room door. "Can I come in?" I got up, unlocked the door and sat back down. "I had a vision. I know what you are planning and you can't do it."

"Alice," I said. Part of me wished Jasper was here because he would understand what I was feeling. The other part was glad only Alice was here because of how embarrassing it would be otherwise. "I can't do this. Rose deserves better and—"

"You're acting like Edward right now," Alice interrupted. I glared at Alice. "You are trying to decide what is best for Rosalie, just like Edward used to do to you. If you want to talk to Rosalie about this then do it but don't go making plans to break her heart on your own."

"Break her heart," I repeated faintly.

"Yes," Alice nodded. "Rosalie loves you and she would never pressure you into anything but she is looking forward to this just as much as I know you are. If you are not ready then she will understand but don't let those insecurities keep you from being happy."

"Thanks Alice," I said leaning my head on her cold shoulder.

She patted my head. "Alright, you have bras to try on," she said standing up. I fell over but Alice caught me before I hit my head on the seat.

"Can you just tell me which ones we end up buying?" I begged. I wouldn't complain about buying them if she let me out of trying them on.

"Nice try Bella," she laughed. She reached over and grabbed the panties I refused to wear. "You know Rosalie would really like these," she commented. "Oh well."

I frowned as Alice left the changing room. Now that I was alone again I started trying on the bras and teddies. They all fit, which wasn't surprising considering I was with Alice, but I still wasn't sure about them.

I changed back into my clothes and grabbed the items I had tried on. Alice grabbed the items from me and dumped them on the counter before running off to grab something else. I passed by the section with the panties Alice mentioned Rosalie would like. I looked around to make sure no one was looking and grabbed a pair in my size and quickly tossed them into my pile. Alice paid for the lingerie and we headed back home.

Friday afternoon came and I was getting ready for my date with Rosalie. I had just gotten out of the shower when I got a text. _Wear the black lace set. ~Alice_

I frowned at the text but did as Alice said. I learned long ago not to bet against her and I wasn't about to start now. I pulled on the bra and underwear and then my outfit, a denim skirt that was a little shorter than I liked and a simple blue shirt.

An hour later we were seated in a small Italian restaurant. Once again Rosalie was eating human food. She made faces at it but never once complained. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen.

Dinner was quiet. I think we were both nervous and because of that neither of us was saying very much. It got to the point where we are talking about the weather which was something that was only talked about when there was nothing else to say.

"The others are out of town," Rosalie commented on our way home from the restaurant. "They decided to leave this weekend and take Charlie out to hunt and help work on his control."

My heart started to beat faster. We were all alone for the entire weekend. There would be no interruptions. Now I understood why Alice texted. I wondered if she saw what would happen, or if she was planning just in case.

"Bella, are you alright?" Rose asked concerned. I didn't realize I hadn't said anything since she told them they were gone.

"Fine," I said taking a deep breath.

She didn't reply as she pulled into the driveway. "We can take the bike out tomorrow," Rosalie suggested.

"Sure," I said excited. I was eager to ride it, now that I had gotten over the fact that she had spent that much money on me. The amount of motorcycle supplies she had bought was outrageous but it was mostly necessary.

Rosalie held my hand as we walked into the house. There was something different about the house tonight. I couldn't quite explain it. We walked upstairs and I gasped when I saw my bedroom. "How… when… what…" I whispered in confusion.

The room was dark expect for the dozen or so candles lit around the room. There was enough light for me to see the bottle of wine chilling on the nightstand as well as a single violet rose. It was romantic but not overly so. It was as if Rosalie read my mind, or our very helpful and overexcited sister kept an eye on the future to see which I would like better.

Rosalie chuckled beside me. "Alice did this before they left," she explained. "I hope you like it. I wasn't too sure but Alice insisted it would be perfect. I don't want to pressure you but I thought I would—"

It was cute listening to her ramble on but I cut her off with a kiss. She responded immediately by placing her hands on my waist and pulling me closer. "Bella," she muttered pulling away so I could breathe. I looked into her gold eyes, darkened by lust. "Are you positive you want to do this? I… it will be hard for me to stop once we start, should you change your mind. I would, of course, stop but I would rather not have to worry about that."

I touched Rosalie's face. "I want this," I promised. I had been nervous since we had talked about this. I was constantly changing my mind, much to Alice's dismay. But here in this moment there was nothing I wanted more than her. "Honestly, I'm a little scared but I trust you and I want you more than I want oxygen right now."

Rosalie smiled. "We can take our time," she promised. "We have all weekend. Do you want some wine?" She gestured to the bottle of wine beside us.

I shook my head. "I would rather not have alcohol in me for this," I told her. She nodded.

"I figured as much," she said. "But we got it just in case."

She sat on my bed and pulled me to her. "I love you," Rosalie said kissing my neck. I could feel her nose grazing my throat, almost as if she was smelling my blood.

I pulled away from her. Not because I was scared of her but because I was curious as to why she would do that. "What's wrong?" she asked concerned.

"Nothing," I said quickly, so she wouldn't feel bad for something she hadn't done. "I just… you said my blood has no appeal to you, right?" She nodded. "Then why do you smell it? I don't quite understand."

"Just because I have no desire to drink your blood doesn't mean it doesn't smell good," she said. "It's like a vegetarian in front of a steak. It smells good, looks good and it probably takes amazing but there is no desire to eat it."

I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. She ran her hands underneath my top. "Can I?" she asked gripping the top. For a second I thought she was going to rip it off.

I nodded, unable to say anything as she pulled the shirt over my head. Her eyes were now black as she caught sight of my lace bra and bare stomach. "So that's where Alice took you," she muttered, running her fingers along the top edge of my bra.

I shivered at her touch. "Yes," I choked out. My body felt like it was on fire with every touch.

Rosalie kissed my stomach before reaching over and undoing the bra clasp. My arms immediately went to cover my chest. "Bella," she said softly. "You are beautiful. You don't have to hide from me." She grabbed my arms and pulled them away from my body, not hard or anything. I could have resisted if I wanted to but I didn't.

I moaned softly as she ran her fingers over my chest. I boldly reached over and tugged at her shirt, trying to pull it off. She giggled and pulled away from me long enough to rip her shirt and bra off. I was mesmerized by the sight of her. Edward wasn't kidding when he said everything about them was used to draw humans closer to them.

Rosalie quickly stripped the rest of our clothes off and we laid side by side on my bed. Her fingers traced every inch of my skin before slipping through my wet folds. I moaned as her middle finger flicked my clit. "Rose, more please," I begged.

She kissed my lips and slipped one finger inside of me. She slowly pumped in finger in and out and I moaned. When she was satisfied she added another finger and continued. "This is going to hurt," she warned me.

I looked into her eyes and nodded slightly before resting my head on her bare chest. She pushed a little further, and harder, and I felt a sharp pain. She stopped her movements and waited for me to give her the okay.

It took over a minute before the pain faded. I started rocking my hips as a way to show her I was alright. She began moving her fingers again, picking up speed as she went. "Let go Bella," she muttered knowing how close I was. My body shook as I experience my first orgasm in my life. Rosalie pulled her fingers from me and licked them, making my blush in the process.

I wanted to reciprocate and make her feel like I had but I drifted off to sleep before I had the chance.


	24. Chapter 24

Rosalie

A lot had changed since that weekend. It wasn't until Saturday night that I remembered she needed to eat, not that Bella seemed to mind. She had to reassure me that it wasn't my fault for not feeding her as she had also forgotten to eat.

The rest of the family came back Sunday afternoon. They all smelled Bella on me and vice versa. Emmett was grinning until Alice and Charlotte whacked the back of his head. I felt better knowing that other vampires would now know that Bella was my mate. Now only someone incredibly stupid would try to take her from me.

Charlie's reaction was the most surprising. He didn't say anything about it. He mostly pretended like nothing had happened which was fine with me. I think he knew there was nothing he could do, not because Bella was my mate and he was her father, but because Bella was eighteen and allowed to make her own decisions.

We were currently at Peter and Charlotte's house. Charlotte had insisted we spent the day with them so they could get to know the newest member of our family. I felt a little guilty for keeping Bella away from Peter and Charlotte. It wasn't intentional but between Charlie being a newborn and everything else we hadn't spent much time with them.

Bella was playing Black Ops 2 with Emmett. It had something to do with surviving zombies. It sounded completely ridiculous but she was having fun, despite the fact that she was dying every couple seconds and Emmett would have to come heal her.

"Again Bells?" Emmett laughed as her character dropped for the third time in less than a minute.

Bella stuck her tongue out at Emmett. "Keep laughing big brother," she said. "Soon I will be better than you."

"One year, two months and eight days, to be exact," Alice said with a grin.

Bella and Emmett both groaned. Emmett was upset Bella would finally best him in a game while Bella was bummed it would take so long. "Don't worry Bella," I said running a hand through her hair. "I'll help you beat him." I winked at her and she blushed.

Charlie coughed from the back door. He had just come back from a hunt with Peter and Jasper. From what Emmett said Charlie had actually asked them if they could go hunting before Bella came over as he didn't want her in danger.

With Jasper absorbing Charlie's bloodlust Charlie was behaving much like he did before he was changed. It was easy to forget he was a newborn. He glanced at me. "Is it okay to talk to her?" he questioned.

Since we had come to an understanding he started asking me permission before doing anything regarding Bella. It wasn't necessary but I did appreciate the gesture. Now that Bella and I had officially mated it was a lot easier to fight my instinct to protect her.

"Sure," I agreed. "Keep close to Jasper though. It's safer for her that way."

Charlie nodded and asked Bella if he could speak to her. Bella handed the controller to Peter before sitting across from Charlie at the kitchen table. "It's good to see you Bells," Charlie said as if he hadn't seen Bella in a long time. I glanced at them and it looked like a family member visiting a prisoner. I guess in a way it was.

"You too Dad," Bella said. I felt bad knowing that this was the first real conversation they've had since Charlie was changed. "How are you adjusting?"

Charlie shrugged. "It's still strange," he confessed. "But it's getting better."

"I'm sorry," Bella said.

Charlie looked at me when I groaned. None of us had told Charlie that Bella asked for him to be changed. We told him I changed him but not the details. That way if he was angry about it he could focus his anger on me and not Bella. "Sorry for what Bells?" he asked.

"I begged Rosalie to change you," she muttered, not realizing Charlie didn't know.

"Rosalie said she had changed me," he said thoughtfully. It looked as if he was trying to figure out how I got around his gift.

"She did," Bella said. "But only after I asked, I didn't want you to die and it was my fault you were dying."

Charlie got up slowly and moved closer to Bella. Everyone, minus Jasper and Alice, instantly reacted. "Relax," Alice said rolling her eyes. "He's not going to hurt her."

We stopped moving as Charlie knelt beside Bella. "This is not your fault," he said firmly. "The others told me about Victoria, and after everything that had happened since you moved to Forks. _She_ tried to kill me Bella, not you. You saved my life. I can't say being a vampire is my first choice, honestly it's not, but it does beat being dead, well permanently dead. Now, Emmett let it slip that you want to be a vampire, that you've wanted it pretty much since you moved to Forks."

Bella glanced at Emmett, before looking at me. I gave her a reassuring smile and she turned her attention back to Charlie. "I do," she admitted. "In the beginning I wanted to be with Edward forever but he constantly refused to change me but now, I want to be with Rosalie. When I look back I honestly have no idea what I was thinking."

"What is it about the Cullen's that made you want to spend more time with them than with me?" Charlie asked. We could all hear the sadness in his voice.

Bella hung her head in shame and I growled softly. "At first it was just Edward," she replied honestly. "But the more time I spent with them the more I liked them. You seemed content on your own and I didn't want to disturb that. Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Rosalie are all my family in that strange dysfunctional way and well Peter and Charlotte are family now too."

"Hey," Emmett called.

I watched Bella roll her eyes at him. "I'm sorry Bella," Charlie said. "I'm sorry for making you think I didn't want you around. I love you kiddo and despite everything that happened I'm glad you came to Forks."

He leaned over and hugged her. It seemed innocent enough until Bella tried to pull away. "Dad?" she said.

Jasper, Emmett, Peter and I immediately stood up went over to them. I recognized the look in Charlie's eyes. He got too close to her and wanted her blood. The good news was he was distracted by her blood, and he was fighting with himself on whether he should bite her.

His hesitation, which only lasted a second before he snapped, was enough time to allow the four of us to react. Peter and I pulled Bella away from Charlie. I crouched down in front of her and growled at Charlie. Emmett wrapped his arms around Charlie to hold him in place while Jasper concentrated on his emotions.

Unfortunately Emmett was touching Charlie and when Jasper sent Charlie the cocktail of emotions to make him weak and pull him out of the bloodlust it got Emmett as well. Emmett groaned as he was knocked to the ground. Charlie dropped to the ground at the same time as Emmett.

"Come on Bella," I said pulling her away.

"Where are we going?" she asked. I could feel her shaking in my arms. I don't think she realized just how dangerous Charlie was right now. She was so convinced we weren't monsters that she didn't realize we are, especially as newborns, monsters that craved blood.

"Home," I told her. "Charlie's needs to hunt. You won't be able to see you for the rest of the day, at the very least. Peter and Jasper will probably be taking him hunting overnight."

She was quiet as I ran back to the house. Her head was buried in my shoulder like it normally was. "Are you alright?" I asked when we were inside.

She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of orange juice. "Fine," she said immediately. I raised an eyebrow at her. That may work on the others but not on me. I know better. She took a sip of her juice and sighed. "I almost forgot he was a newborn. He seemed so… normal I guess. It was as if the last few weeks never happened."

"He will get better," I promised. "It will just take some time."

"Has Alice seen when the Cullen's are going to show up?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Carlisle keeps changing his mind," I told her. "Alice isn't sure if he's doing it on purpose or not." I didn't mention that Alice had a feeling it was Edward that was constantly changing his mind and disrupting her visions.

"So we just wait?" she asked, obviously not happy about it.

"Bella, are you okay with them coming?" I questioned. "If not we can leave."

She shook her head. "No, we don't have to leave," she said quickly. "I want to see them, I really do, but I really want to get it over with and move on with my life."

I smiled and pulled her into my arms. "I understand that," I said. I've wanted the same thing since I found out Bella was my mate. We will finally be able to get everything out in the open and start to deal with the aftermath.

"Rose," she mumbled against my body. I let her go so I could study her face. "I'm hungry."

I laughed. "Do you want to go out or shall I make something for you?"

"I can cook," she said moving to the refrigerator.

"I don't think so," I said pulling her away. I planted her into the chair before going through the cabinets.

"Rosalie, you're spoiling me," she protested.

I dropped the pot on the stove and moved over to give Bella a quick kiss. "I know," I muttered. "I like spoiling you."

"But you don't eat," she complained.

I laughed again. "You cooked for Charlie when you weren't eating," I reminded

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's not the same thing," she mumbled under her breath.

"It is to me," I said turning the water on to boil.

"Stupid super hearing vampire," she grumbled and I laughed.

While the water was set I got to work chopping up some vegetables to mix with the pasta. After the vegetables were chopped I got the shrimp set to cook. I planned to cook them with some butter and garlic. Simple but Bella loved it.

It took thirty minutes to get Bella's lunch together. I sat the plate on the table and poured her a glass of milk. It seemed to be the drink of choice for her at lunch time. While Bella ate I made a pitcher of iced tea. "Should I bake cookies or something?" I asked.

"No thanks," she said. I pouted and she laughed. "Fine go for it." I grinned and got to work baking cookies.

After she finished eating Bella cleaned up the dishes while I baked the cookies. "Do you think Emmett will try eating these?" she asked after the first batch came out of the oven.

"He better not," I said. I baked a pie for Bella the week before and Emmett decided to try some. He end up throwing it up because it tasted bad. Needless to say Bella did not want pie after that.

"Ouch," Bella shouted pulling her hand out of the sink. I smelled the blood immediately. She must have cut her hand on the knife. Honestly, I was surprised it hadn't happened sooner.

I went to her side and turned on the faucet so I could clean out the wound. "You don't have to do this," she protested trying to pull her hand away.

I sighed. "It doesn't bother me," I reminded her. I dropped her hand and ran to the bathroom to grab the peroxide, bandages and some cotton swabs.

I came back into the kitchen just as Bella was trying to wrap her hand up and clean up the blood. I shook my head in exasperation. She was always trying to make things easier for us, and while it was appreciated, it was completely unnecessary.

I moved her over to the table and sat her down. She was cradling her hand to her chest. I pulled her hand away, with more force than should have been necessary but she insisted on resisting me.

She was studying my face as I worked to clean her hand up. I know she was waiting for me to snap and attack her, or maybe she was hoping I would bite her so she could be changed.

I poured peroxide on a cotton swab and dabbed the edges of the cut to clean it. Once I was satisfied that it was clean I bandaged it up and planted a small kiss over the bandage.

I glanced at Bella's face and saw she was staring at me in awe. "Edward would have been able to do that," she muttered.

"You're his singer," I reminded her.

"I know," she said, looking at her hand. "But with how many times he said he loved me and how I was everything to him, you would think he would have tried harder to resist."

I sighed. I did not want to stand up for Edward but I did want Bella to understand. "Resisting your singer is not as easy as it sounds," I told her. "Emmett tried to resist his singer the second time but in the end it didn't matter. I think the fact that Edward resisted for as long as he did shows he really did love you."

"And If I was your singer?" she muttered.

"If you were my singer we wouldn't be mated," I told her. She glared at me. Obviously that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. "If you were my singer it would be hard," I confessed. "It would probably take a long time before I could be close to you, or be comfortable around your blood, but I would never stop trying to adjust and make it easier on both of us."

She nodded and wrapped her arms around me. I pulled her onto my lap. "I love you Bella," I whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she said, gently kissing me.

I cocked my head to the side when I heard a knock at the door. Who could that be? Alice and the others would never knock. It couldn't be Charlie since I knew the guys were taking him hunting again.

"Who do you think it is?" she whispered.

I shrugged and got up to answer the door. "I'm coming," I yelled when someone knocked again.

Bella followed behind me. Her hand clutching my shirt. Bella gasped in surprise when I pulled open the door. It seemed Alice's thoughts were wrong and Edward wasn't blocking her visions because standing in front of us was Carlisle and Esme Cullen.


	25. Chapter 25

_Carlisle came off worse than I originally intended but he's not a bad guy, just confused and misguided._

_Also, should Edward be a bad guy or somewhere in the middle? Unfortunately, I can't make him a complete good guy._

* * *

><p>Bella<p>

Even though I knew they were coming I couldn't help but be surprised to see Carlisle and Esme again. Carlisle and Esme were smiling at me and it looked as if they were doing their best to ignore Rosalie. That pissed me off because they didn't seem to care about Rosalie's side of the story.

Carlisle sniffed the air and rounded on Rosalie. "What have you done Rosalie?" Carlisle demanded. It wasn't the best greeting considering he hadn't seen us in quite a while.

Rosalie smirked. "Well hello to you too Carlisle," she greeted. I tugged on her shirt, hoping it would warn her to behave.

"Rosalie," he growled and Rosalie tensed up in front of me. For the first time Carlisle truly looked like a vampire instead of the gentle doctor I always viewed him as. I tightened my grip on Rosalie's shirt. I was actually scared of Carlisle, scared that he might hurt me, or worse hurt Rosalie. Esme seemed to notice my fear and rested a hand on his shoulder.

Carlisle turned his attention to me and Rosalie growled. She was not happy he scared me. "It's good to see you," he said softly.

"Hello Carlisle, Esme," I whispered.

Esme took half a step forward but froze when Rosalie growled at her. She was in full protection mode and wouldn't let anyone near me. "Why did you do it?" Carlisle asked.

"Do what?" I asked confused. I expected Carlisle to be upset about our relationship but there was something I was missing. Why was he so angry when he just got here? We hadn't done anything wrong.

Carlisle glared at Rosalie. "She doesn't know," he spat. "He will kill you for this, you have to know that, and I won't stop him. You ruined his mate for him. How could you Rosalie?"

"I did nothing wrong," Rosalie hissed crouching down in front of me. "And Bella was never Edwards," she roared.

"Rosalie," I said softly, stroking her back in hopes of calming her down. I know she's angry. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. But I didn't want her to hurt Carlisle and regret it later. Though I admit he did deserve it for making accusations like that.

I heard someone take a deep breath, most likely Carlisle, but I didn't really care. Rosalie froze for a minute, trying to compose herself before doing anything. That usually happened when she was angry and she didn't want to snap and scare, or hurt, me.

She stood up and pulled me into her arms, nose buried in my hair. My scent calmed her. I had noticed that since we had gotten together. "He can smell me on you," Rosalie whispered, though Carlisle and Esme could still hear him. "That's what he was talking about."

I blushed. I had forgotten about that. That would explain why Carlisle was upset. Me smelling like her was a warning to other vampires to back off. It looked like that didn't work out too well. "Bella," Carlisle said softly. I turned to the man I used to view as a father. "We can fix this Bella. Once Edward gets here the two of you can leave together. You two can finally consummate your relationship and hopefully Rosalie's scent will be overpowered by your mates."

My jaw dropped as I listened to him. He wanted me to sleep with Edward so I wouldn't smell like Rosalie. What the hell was he thinking?

I tried to launch myself at Carlisle so I could hit him, despite the fact that I knew it would hurt me in the process, but I couldn't. I was in Alice's arms. I wonder when that happened. I looked around and saw Rosalie was struggling against Emmett and Jasper.

"Stop fighting me," Alice hissed in my ear. "You will only hurt yourself."

Jasper was desperately trying to calm Rosalie down but it didn't seem to be working. Carlisle was staring at Rosalie in shock and fear. Esme was hidden behind Carlisle. She was also afraid. "Let me go," I begged Alice. "I need to go to her."

Alice froze for a few seconds. I couldn't see her face but I assumed she wanted to check the future to make sure I was safe. After about twenty seconds she let me go. I ran straight to Rosalie. "Rose," I said cupping her face. She wasn't looking at me. She was still focused on Carlisle. "Rosalie." Still no response. I turned to my two brothers. "Let her go," I requested.

Jasper and Emmett stared at me like I was crazy. "Uh Bells," Emmett said. "If we let Rosalie go we will be picking up pieces of Carlisle's body off our driveway."

I glanced at Jasper. He had a thoughtful expression on his face and I wondered what my big brother was up to. "Let her go Em," Jasper said, relaxing his hold on Rose.

Emmett was now staring at Jasper like he was crazy. "Dude," Emmett said but Jasper cut him off.

"She's regaining control," Jasper told him. "And she won't hurt Bella, no matter how angry she is. Bella may be the only one that can talk some sense into her."

Emmett reluctantly let Rosalie go. Rosalie was crouched down and started to charge forward but I blocked her path. "Rose you have to calm down," I said.

Her black eyes locked on mine and I resisted the urge to shudder under her stare. She looked scary right now. Only the knowledge that Rosalie loved me and wouldn't hurt me kept me from running away in fear.

"Move," she snarled.

"No," I said stubbornly. "I know you're mad and you have every right to be but what good will killing Carlisle do?" I place my hand over her mouth to stop her from responding before I finished. "All it will accomplish is depriving Esme of her mate. Esme hadn't done anything wrong. She doesn't deserve to lose him."

The anger was starting to fade from her face and I pressed on. "If the situation had been reversed and someone had wanted to kill you, wouldn't you want someone to stop them so I wouldn't have to go through life without you?"

That seemed to snap her out of her anger. She stood up and wrapped her arms around me. "Bella just saved your life," she said speaking directly to Carlisle. "If I were you I would think twice before you open your mouth again."

Carlisle looked shaken at the thought. This had to be the first time I had ever seen him afraid of anything. I just hope he is smart enough to listen to Rosalie because I don't think I could stop her from killing him next time. Honestly, if he tries it again I don't know if I want to save him.

"It's good to see you again Bella," Esme said stepping out into the open. "We are sorry to hear about Charlie. He was a good man."

I glanced at Rosalie in confusion. Why did Esme think Charlie was dead? "I didn't tell them," Rosalie said looking at me. "I didn't see a reason to and they didn't ask."

"Charlie is alive?" Carlisle questioned sharply. Esme looked overjoyed at the thought but Carlisle looked concerned and possibly angry.

"If you can call being a vampire alive," Jasper said, speaking for the first time. "I told you, I told you we needed to go after Victoria, that her connection to James was strong. But no, Mr. All-Creatures-Deserve- A-Second-Chance disagreed and now Bella has lost her home, her friends and can barely be around her father."

Rosalie pulled me behind her. Jasper was pissed and she wanted to keep me out the way just in case. "I'm sorry," Carlisle choked out.

I turned to Rosalie. "Jasper just sent Carlisle your emotions from when Charlie was changed. All the pain, sadness and guilt you felt Carlisle is now feeling. Now he's sending your emotions from when we left you."

Eventually Jasper stopped the emotional onslaught. By the time he was finished Carlisle was on the ground sobbing. "I'm sorry," he said again. "I didn't know. Edward said she wouldn't be a problem. He said Bella would be happy away from all of us. Why, why would he do this to us and to Bella?"

"Edward knew Bella was my mate," Rosalie said while Carlisle shakily stood up and dusted himself off.

Carlisle frowned. I could see he was trying hard to believe what Rosalie was saying, probably because he didn't want another fight to break out. I don't think he was convinced it was true, yet. Carlisle rubbed the back of his neck. "We shouldn't have called him," he said finally.

"You think," Rosalie sneered.

"Rose," I said elbowing her in the ribs. I groaned and rubbed my elbow. She didn't even notice I had done anything until she heard me groan in pain.

"Sorry," she muttered to Carlisle. Jasper snickered and I was certain she was anything but sorry.

Carlisle sighed. "We should go back to our hotel room," he said. He turned to me. "I hope you will let us visit again. We missed you Bella."

They left without waiting for a reply. "Well that was fun," Emmett said as cheerful as ever.

Jasper and Alice rolled their eyes. "Shut up Emmett," Rosalie said. I shook my head at my big brother. He was such a goof sometimes. Rosalie turned her attention to me. "I don't want to boss you around, especially after you went through that with Edward, but I don't want you alone with Carlisle. I can't be sure he won't try to take you to Edward."

I don't think Carlisle would try to kidnap me but I agreed not to be alone with him. It gave Rosalie peace of mind and if I was completely honest I was still a little afraid of him. When it came to Edward Carlisle had little control over his emotions. I dread what will happen when Edward shows up here.

"Don't worry Bella," Jasper said. "Rosalie may not believe it but Carlisle would never take you away from her. Even he isn't that stupid. He has now grasped the fact that you are Rose's mate and not Edward's."

"Doesn't mean he is happy about it," I muttered.

Jasper chuckled. "No, he's still not happy but he has realized Rosalie is right. He won't try anything because he knows Rosalie will kill him, however he won't try to stop Edward unless Edward does something extremely stupid."

"Which will likely happen," Rosalie added.

I sighed. Edward did tend to act like a child when he didn't get his way. He was going to be angry that I knew for sure. What I wasn't sure was how angry he would be. "We will protect you," Jasper said firmly. "Even if we have to take Edward out."

Alice closed her eyes for a second before shaking her head. "I can still see his future so we don't kill him," Alice said. "However, that doesn't mean there won't be a fight."

Rosalie glared at Alice. "You didn't have to scare Bella," she hissed.

"I'm fine Rose," I said rolling my eyes at her. She was just as protective as Edward had been but the majority of the time she wasn't annoying about it. This time she was going a little overboard.

"She's not scared," Jasper said. I glanced at my brother and he too was rolling his eyes.

Rose glanced at me and shook her head. I could detect a hint of a smile on her face. "Only my Bella," she said fondly. She wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me against her body. I sunk into her arms. Here in her arms was my favorite place to be. I felt safe and loved.

"Do we know when Edward will show up?" Jasper asked his mate. I had almost forgotten they were still here.

Alice closed her eyes for ten seconds before shaking her head. "He's moving but I can't tell where he is or when he will come," she said sadly.

"He wants to surprise us," Jasper muttered. He glanced at me. "I can't say exactly what he is planning but I wouldn't leave Bella alone." I opened my mouth to protest. I refused to be babysat. Jasper's mouth curved up into a small smile. "I'm not saying we should be right next to you, but one of us should be close enough so we can react if something happens. It's not much of a change. We are around you most of the time anyway."

Jasper did have a point. I looked at him and he was grinning. Dang empathic brother. Jasper started laughing. "What's funny?" Emmett asked confused.

"Bella's annoyed with me," Jasper replied.

Rosalie turned to me with her eyebrow raised. I mumbled a few things and Alice started laughing. Apparently she had a vision as to what I meant to say. She told the others and they joined in the laughter. "Stupid future seeing vampire," I muttered under my breath. Alice laughed harder and I groaned.

"Alright enough picking on my Bella," Rosalie said pulling me close to her. I leaned against her breathing in her sweet scent, my head was resting on her cold shoulder. "Are you busy tomorrow?" she whispered.

It was a strange question considering I was with the majority of the time. I knew she was trying to be polite and I wondered what she had planned. "No," I told her. "Are we going to do something?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go away with me for the weekend," Rosalie said. I didn't need Jasper's gift to know she was nervous. She kept shifting in her spot which was something she never did. "I rented a beach house for us."

My face lit up at the thought. Me and Rosalie on the beach, were it would hopefully be clothing optional. It was too good to pass up.

"Bella," Jasper groaned.

All eyes went to Jasper. "Sorry Jazz," I said grinning sheepishly.

Jasper grabbed Alice's hand and they ran out of the house. Emmett laughed and sat down on the couch. "What are you doing?" Rosalie asked. She had a smile on her face when she found where my emotions were headed.

"Nothing," Emmett said with a grin on his face.

Rosalie pulled away from me and walked over and smacked Emmett. "Get out," she growled.

Emmett rubbed the back of his head and mumbled, "women," before running out of the house.

The next morning Rosalie drove us to the beach house on my motorcycle. She mentioned teaching me to ride while we were there. The beach house was rather secluded from what she told me so we had plenty of privacy. Alice had mentioned it was supposed to be cloudy all weekend so Rosalie could go out during the day without having to worry about the sun.

My arms tightened around Rosalie's waist. Riding on a motorcycle was both scary and exciting. I loved the freedom that came with riding on a motorcycle. The feel of the wind on my face made me feel so alive.

I sighed in disappointment when Rosalie cut the engine. Rosalie chuckled and helped me off the bike. We didn't have any bags. Alice had insisted on getting everything ready and had packed for us. She also stocked the fridge for me.

Rosalie lifted me off the ground and carried me into the house. "I could have walked," I told her when she sat me down.

She laughed. "I wanted my chance to carry you across the threshold," she said.

"What does that mean?" I asked confused.

"I know about your… hesitation… when it comes to marriage," she said. I frowned. We had never talked about getting married so how did she know that I was unsure about it.

It wasn't that I was unsure about spending the rest of my life with Rosalie. That was the one thing I was sure about. But after hearing about Renee's ideas on marriage and how my parent's marriage had fallen apart I wasn't sure if marriage was the best idea.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," she said stroking my cheek. "It's just a simple fact."

"How did you know?" I asked.

"I talked to Alice," she admitted. "She mentioned you weren't too keen on the idea."

"Did Alice say whether or not we do end up married?" I asked. I wanted to know if I managed to get over my fear of marriage.

"She refused to tell me," Rosalie said shaking her head. "No matter how many times I begged. Said she didn't want to ruin the future. Makes me think we do end up married. So what do you want to do first?"

My stomach growled before I had a chance to answer. Rosalie chuckled. "Food for my human," she said, pulling me toward the kitchen. "What are you hungry for?"

I blushed as my mind wandered. Rosalie cocked her head to the side and turned to face me. She could smell the blood that rushed to my face. She grinned as she figured out what made me blush. "Salad is fine," I said quickly before she could say anything.

"Okay," she said. But instead of moving closer to the fridge so she could get the food out, she moved closer to me. "I love you Bella." She leaned over and pressed her lips against mine.

Her hands ran down my back and to my thighs. She lifted me off the ground and my legs automatically wrapped around her waist. "I love you too," I moaned as I felt her lips on my neck.

She took a few steps backwards, most likely to carry me upstairs to the bedroom, but my stomach started growling again. I groaned as Rosalie sat me back down. "After you eat," she muttered pressing one last kiss to my throat.

I sat on the barstool while she prepared my salad. She wasn't satisfied with me eating a simple salad and ended up grilling a chicken breast so put on top. My mouth watered as she made garlic bread to go with the salad.

She sat the plate in front of me and I dug in. "I'm going to go hunt while you eat," she said. "I'll be back as soon as I can." I nodded, unable to speak with a mouthful of food. She kissed my cheek and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I cleaned up the kitchen after I ate. Rosalie still wasn't back, not that she had been gone long. It had only been fifteen minutes and I guessed she would be gone at least an hour. I decided on a nice hot shower to pass the time. I carefully shaved my legs as it seemed like a good idea.

I wrapped the towel around my body and frowned. I didn't know where Alice put my clothes and I had stripped off my clothes in the bedroom. I mentally shrugged. I was here alone so it didn't really matter. I would grab my clothes and put them back on.

I jumped when I saw I wasn't alone in the bedroom, and dropped my towel. Rosalie was lying on the bed, hands behind her head. Her gold eyes locked on mine for a few seconds before her eyes raked my body. Her golden eyes instantly darkened.

"Wasn't exactly the greeting I was expecting but I'm not complaining," Rosalie said smirking. I blushed.

Rosalie was off the bed and in front of me before I had a chance to figure out what was going on. She tilted my head up and gently brushed her lips against mine.

I wrapped my arms around her neck and she ran her hand down my spine. I whimpered as Rosalie pulled away from me. My heart was beating out of control. It felt like it was going to explode but Rose didn't seem worried.

She pulled her top off, followed by her bra, and quickly stripped off her pants and underwear. I was mesmerized by her beauty. Being next to her made me feel inadequate. I don't think I will ever be fully comfortable being naked in front of her, at least not until I'm changed.

Rose lifted me off the ground and carried me to the bed. She laid down with me on top of her. I kissed her lips before working my way down her body. I wrapped my lips around a nipple and Rosalie moaned. Her hands gripped the sheets and her body tensed up.

Even though she would never hurt me there was a small part of her that was scared she could hurt me by accident. I could tell when we make love that she was holding back and while I didn't like that she was struggling, I knew it was necessary. Nothing killed the mood like being crushed to death by your lover.

I turned my attention to her other nipple and grinned as she moaned yet again. Her hand went to my head and I felt her trying to push me down as gently as she could.

I kissed down her stomach before kissing the inside of each thigh. She growled at me for ignoring what she wanted most. I took pity on Rose and ran my tongue through her wet folds. I was hesitant to do this at first. It seemed gross to me but I had been wrong. Nothing compared to the taste of Rosalie.

"Bella," Rose moaned pulling my attention back to my task.

I pushed one finger inside of her while my tongue circled her clit. Her back arched off the bed as I inserted another finger. I quickly pumped my two fingers and pushed a third in. I sucked on her clit and felt her walls clench around my fingers. She cried my name and collapsed on the bed.

I rested my head on her chest. "I love you," I muttered.

"I love you too," she whispered.

"Is it hard?" I asked. She tilted her head so she could look at me. "Being with me, is it hard after… well you know."

"No," Rose said shaking her head. "It's as easy as breathing. With Emmett it was forced, even that one night we tried to take things further, I was trying too hard to want him but with you… it feels natural."

"Why did you try so hard with Emmett?" I asked curious.

"As you know Carlisle changed me hoping I would be Edward's mate," Rose said and I made a face at that. "Two years later I found Emmett bleeding to death after being mauled by a bear. I don't know what made me want to save him but I carried him to Carlisle and begged him to change Emmett." I stayed silent, even though I already knew this part of the story.

"I didn't feel a pull to Emmett," Rosalie continued. "I loved him more than I loved Edward but I knew we weren't meant to be. I deluded myself into believing we could be happy together because I felt guilty."

"You felt guilty for having him changed," I realized. Rose nodded. "You saved him from death Rose. Even if you two weren't meant to be you gave him a second chance at life. I don't understand… I get why you don't want me to be changed. I'm young and I have my whole life ahead of me and you don't want to take that away from me." She nodded again. "But you, Esme, Edward and Emmett, your lives were over. You were all going to die. I don't understand why you think death is better than this life."

Rose sat up in the bed. She didn't bother hiding her naked body. She raised an eyebrow when she caught me staring at her chest. I blushed and sat up so I could lean against her. "I suppose you couldn't understand unless you lived through what we have but it's hard," Rosalie said. She wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me onto her lap so we were chest to chest. "I've been alive for over eighty years. That's over eighty years of watching the world change around me while I stay the same. I will never have a child, or grandchildren. I will never grow old with you and it hurts."

I hugged Rosalie. "I never thought of it that way," I admitted.

"My views have changed some since I met you," Rosalie confessed.

"So your hesitance to change me was never about my soul?" I questioned.

"Your soul?" Rosalie asked confused.

"Edward said one of the reasons he didn't want to change me because he didn't want to take away my soul," I told her.

Rosalie sighed. "I don't believe changing you would take away your soul," she said. "I know that's a popular discussion amongst the Cullens but like Carlisle I believe we do have souls. Despite his faults he is the most compassionate man I have ever met. I don't believe someone as good as him could not have a soul. No, I don't fear for your soul. I fear… I'm afraid you will hate me in fifty years."

"Oh Rose," I said sadly. "I could never hate you. You're the love of my life, or existence, or however you want to put it." Rosalie grinned. It didn't change her views on me becoming a vampire but I think it helped.

I groaned when she started rocking her hips into mine. I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled myself closer to her body. Her fingers slipped in between our bodies and I felt her slip two fingers inside me.

"Come for me my Bella," she whispered. "Let go."

I moaned Rosalie's name as I came around her fingers. She held me against her body as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.


	26. Chapter 26

Rosalie

I carefully slipped out of the bed and pulled on my robe when I heard my cell phone ring. I ran downstairs and grabbed the phone, wondering who would call me here. The others know I don't want to be disturbed this weekend unless there was an emergency. "Hello," I answered.

"_Rosalie_," Esme said. I frowned. Why was Esme calling me? She had only said one thing to me since I last saw her.

"What do you want?" I asked. I was glad Bella was asleep, otherwise she would have yelled at me for being rude.

"_I wanted a chance to talk to you and Bella_," Esme said.

"Now's not a good time," I said. I refused to ruin Bella's weekend to talk to Esme. Even if Esme was the more reasonable of the two.

"_I understand but I would really like to talk to the two of you_," Esme said sadly. "_Perhaps sometime when you aren't busy_?"

I hesitated. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"_I'm sorry about what happened earlier. What Carlisle said was over the line_," Esme said. I could hear the anger in her voice and it surprised me. She had never been angry at him before. She always sat back and let Carlisle do what he wanted. It was the main thing about her that always frustrated me. "_I will be speaking to him about what he said_." She paused for a moment. "_I wanted to thank you for sparing Carlisle. I am angry with him and I don't blame you for reacting the way you did, but thank you_."

"I didn't do it for you," I said. "I did it for Bella."

"_I know_," Esme said sadly. "_But I'm still grateful_."

"I'll talk to Bella," I said sighing. "But keep Carlisle away. I don't trust him, no matter what Jasper tells me."

"_Thank you_," Esme said before hanging up.

I tossed my phone on the couch. "Hey," Bella called from the bottom of the stairs, wearing a robe Alice had packed for her. I whipped around to look at her. I was so focused on Esme I hadn't heard her come down.

"Did I wake you?" I asked concerned.

Bella shrugged. "I woke up and you weren't there," she said, pretending it didn't matter. I could detect a hint of fear in her voice.

Damn, how could I have been so stupid? Ever since Edward left her and I came back she had been afraid we would leave her again. After time that fear had started to subside. She would never admit it out loud because she didn't want to seem needy but I knew that fear was still there. I made sure I was always around when she woke up so this wouldn't happen.

"I'm sorry," I said walking over to her and pulling her against my chest. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Bella shook her head. "It's stupid," she said. "I didn't mean to be clingy."

"You're not clingy," I said breathing in her scent. "You just have abandonment issues thanks to Edward. They don't disappear overnight. It takes time. Are you hungry?"

"A little," she admitted.

I pulled her to the kitchen so I could cook for her. "What do you want to eat?" I asked.

"Just a sandwich," she replied. "What time is it?"

"Just after four," I said after checking my phone. "You slept most of the afternoon."

"Sorry," she said looking down.

I sat the knife down and went to her side. "Don't be sorry," I said. "We are together, that's all that matters this weekend."

I kissed her forehead and went back to her sandwich. "Do we have time to ride the motorcycle tonight?" she asked.

"We have a few hours until dark," I said. "We can go after you eat."

I sat the plate in front of her and went to the cabinet to pull out some chips. I opened the bag and sat it next to Bella. She grabbed a small handful and placed them on her plate. "Is riding a motorcycle hard?" she asked.

"It's kind of like riding a bike," I said trying to find the best way to explain it. "The hardest part is usually balancing the bike. After that it's a matter of working the clutch and everything else. I'll be right there beside you so you don't have to worry."

"I'm not worried," she said taking another bite of her sandwich. "Do you need to hunt again?"

"I'll be fine Bella," I assured her. I knew why she was asking. She was afraid of getting hurt and making me uncomfortable. "I'll keep you safe."

"It's not me I'm worried about," she said, pulling me against her.

"I'll be fine, I promise," I said again. "I can always hunt while you are sleeping."

She nodded and finished up her food. She cleaned up the dishes while I got dressed. Once she was dressed in her riding gear we left the house. I held the bike upright for her so she didn't struggle climbing on. I got on the bike behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Alright, where's the clutch?" I asked. She pointed it out and I continued to quiz her on the parts of the bike. "Okay, start the bike, good, now flip up the kickstand."

She shifted trying to flip the kickstand. If it wasn't for me holding onto her she would have fallen over with the bike on top of her. "I have it," I said. I tightened my grip on her and flipped the kickstand. "Now, flip the clutch lever," I pointed it out, "and switch to first gear, good, now slowly release the clutch."

Bella slowly released the clutch and as soon as the bike lurched forward she let it go. I quickly grabbed it before anything happened. "Sorry," she muttered.

I kissed her cheek. "It's okay," I said. "Let's try it again."

As soon as it started getting dark we went inside. Bella was learning well. She wasn't quite ready to ride on her own but she was decent and she seemed to love the speed. "Thanks Rose," she said kissing me. "I'm going to go shower."

I flipped through the collection of movies Alice left us while she showered. It was still too early for her to go to bed. I rolled my eyes at some of the movies Alice packed. Another one made me frown. Did Alice really pack porn for us? My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked my phone and found a text from Alice.

_Emmett packed the porn_, the message said.

I groaned and tucked it away so Bella wouldn't see it. I didn't want to embarrass her. I settled on Finding Nemo. I popped it into the DVD player and let the credits play while I changed into some pajamas.

When I got back to the bedroom Bella was laying on the bed with her back against the headboard. "Are you okay with the movie?" I asked. She wasn't big on TV so I wasn't too sure.

"Yeah," she said resting her head on my shoulder when I climbed into bed.

The next day we were getting ready to go to the beach. I packed a lunch for Bella and was currently waiting for Bella to get ready. I was already dressed with a tank top and daisy duke shorts on top of my bikini. The bikini was all Alice's idea. I prefer swim suits that cover more but Alice seemed to have others ideas.

It made me wonder what she was going to dress Bella in. Bella walked down the stairs and my jaw dropped. She was wearing a black bikini that didn't cover much. She was trying to pull the bottoms down so they could cover more.

"I don't think this is a good idea," she said.

I chuckled as I went to her side. "You look beautiful," I said honestly. I pulled her hands away from her bottoms and pulled her against my body. I kissed her neck and grinned as she moaned.

"Can't we stay here?" she begged.

"Unfortunately not," I laughed. "It will be fun Bella. I promise. But if you want to leave we can."

She sighed. "I'm just going to put some shorts on real quick," she said before heading back upstairs.

While she was upstairs I placed the picnic basket, umbrella, towels, sunscreen and everything else we would need by the front door. The beach was within walking distance from the house so there was no need to take the motorcycle, which was a good thing considering there was no place to store stuff on it.

Bella came downstairs a few minutes later wearing shorts very similar to mine and a tank top. "I'm ready," she announced. She frowned. "Are you even able to go outside? What about the sun?"

"Alice assured me it will be cloudy all day today," I told her.

She relaxed at the thought. "Okay, we can go then," she said.

I handed her the towels and a bag with a few things in it. I grabbed the rest of our things and held her hand as we walked to the beach. "Better than La Push?" I asked as she looked around the beach.

"Much better," she agreed.

We found a spot that was less crowded than the rest of the beach. Bella laid the towels down side by side while I put the picnic basket at the bottom of our towels. I opened the umbrella and sat it up at the top. The rest of our things were deposited underneath the umbrella.

Bella looked around to make sure no one was watching up before stripping off her shorts and tank top. I quickly followed her lead and grinned as her jaw dropped. "Like what you see?" I teased.

She blushed and looked away. I pulled out the sunblock and handed it to her. She rubbed the sunscreen on her body and I had to look away. Bella lightly tapped my arm with the container. "Can you get my back?"

I rubbed the sunscreen on her back before dropping the container back in the bag. "So what is this?" she asked pulling out a boogie board from the bag.

"That is a boogie board," I told her. "Emmett got it for us. It's actually rather fun even though we don't get to go to the beach all that often except at night."

We laid on the blankets for a while, enjoying the outdoors. I tried to tune out the sound of the teenage boys whispering amongst themselves about how hot I was. Two guys were particularly loud and I could see Bella glaring at them.

I chuckled and moved closer to my mate. "Jealous love?" I asked running my fingers down her bare back.

She shuddered under my touch and rested her forehead on my arm. "They are looking at you like you're a piece of meat," she muttered. "I don't like it."

"It's okay my love," I said. "They can look all they want but they will never have me." I leaned over and kissed her.

"What a waste," I heard one of the guys say as I pulled away from Bella.

"Yeah," his friend agreed. "Why would such a hot girl be with someone so plain?" Bella stared at me in confusion as I growled.

"She's probably rich," the first guy said. "It's the only way she could ever get someone that hot to be with her."

My lip curled back showing my teeth. I was ready to pounce on them and make them suffer for their comments about my mate. "Rose, don't," Bella said softly. She didn't know what was going on, or what those boys were saying, but she did know I was upset.

I took a deep breath and focused my attention back on my Bella. "Are you hungry?" I asked.

She shrugged and I reached out for the basket. I unpacked a BLT, chips, apple slices and some cookies and laid them out in front of Bella. She reached for the apple slices and I repacked the rest of the food for later. "Water or juice?" I asked.

"Juice," she replied and I pulled out a bottle of pineapple juice.

"Is it hard being around humans out here?" she asked.

"No," I replied honestly. "With you right next to me it's hard to focus on the others. That and they are far enough away that their scent isn't that strong."

After she ate we decided to test the water. I grabbed the boogie board just in case. Bella put her foot in the water and jumped. I laughed. "You can sleep next to a cold vampire every night but the ocean is too much?"

Bella glared at me. "You're comfortable, the ocean isn't," she said.

I laughed again. "You are such a strange human," l said. She glared at me again and I pulled her into my arms. "But you are my strange human. Come on, you will be perfectly safe, I promise."

She sighed and went into the water again. Once her body adjusted to the water I showed her how to boogie board. It took a while but she was finally getting the hang of it. Until a larger wave came and knocked her down.

I rushed to her side when she didn't move. "Bella," I called frantically. Her heartbeat was strong and I didn't smell blood so I was sure she was okay. She groaned and rolled over. "What's wrong?" I helped her sit up.

"My shoulder," she moaned holding her arm against her chest.

"Alright, let's get you back to the house," I said. I mentally sighed in relief. I pulled her off the ground and into my arms so I could carry her home.

I made a decision to call Alice and ask her to clean up everything. "Our stuff," Bella muttered as I walked past our spot.

"Alice will take care of it," I told her.

I carried her home and gently sat her down on the bed. "You have three choices," I told her. "Either I take you to the hospital to get your shoulder popped back, we call Carlisle and have him come do it, or I do it myself."

She gulped loudly. "You do it," she whispered. I wasn't her first choice but she didn't like her other options, which was fine. I didn't care as song as she was taken care of.

"Okay," I said, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Hold still. This is going to hurt but it will be over quick."

I grabbed ahold of her shoulder and twisted it with just enough force to put it back into place. I had seen Carlisle do this enough times to be comfortable enough to do it myself.

Bella winced in pain but didn't make a sound. "Better?" I asked.

"Yes," she agreed. I went to the kitchen and grabbed her some aspirin and water. She quickly gulped the pills down. "I'm going to go shower."

I decided showering was a good idea and got in and out of the other shower in five minutes. I went downstairs after finishing up and saw all of our stuff was sitting in the corner.

Minutes later I heard the water shut off. I made my way back upstairs and saw Bella leave the bathroom with her pajamas on. "How's your shoulder feeling?" I asked climbing on the bed.

"Sore," she replied. "But it does feel better." She bit her lip. "Your body would be a good ice pack."

I grinned at her and patted the bed beside me. "Do you want to watch a movie again?" I asked as she situated herself so her shoulder was resting on mine.

She nodded against my body. I got up, put a movie in the DVD player and was back in bed within seconds. It took Bella a minute to realize I had left.

Ten minutes into the movie Bella was fast asleep.


	27. Chapter 27

_People are going to hate me at the end of this chapter but, I've already started the next one so it won't take long to post._

Bella

I was exhausted by the time we got home Sunday night. I didn't even make it to dinner before collapsing on my bed and sleeping until Monday morning. Rosalie had said she was worried because I barely moved all night.

"Bella," Rosalie said as she fixed breakfast for me. No matter how many times I told her I could cook for myself she ignored me and continued cooking. Though I would never tell her I was glad she cooked for me. Her food was always delicious. "Esme called over the weekend. She wants to meet sometime. I told her I would I would talk to you about it."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I asked. It was already Monday and if I wasn't mistaken Esme called Friday. I saw Rosalie toss her phone aside when I got downstairs.

"I didn't want to ruin our weekend," she said. "I was waiting until we got back to tell you but you fell asleep as soon as we got home yesterday so I didn't get a chance."

"Do you know what she wants?" I questioned.

"She just said she wants to talk to both of us," Rose said. "I'm assuming it's about what happened with Carlisle but it could be about anything. You don't have to go," she added placing the plate in front of me.

"I know," I replied. "But I want to go. I want to hear what she has to say."

"Alright, I'll call her," Rosalie said leaving the room to make the call.

Peter knocked on the door while Rosalie was upstairs. "Hey," he greeted. "Where's that mate of yours?"

"Upstairs calling Esme," I replied.

"Oh," Peter said. "How are you doing with everything?"

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Things have to be hard," Peter said taking a seat beside me. "I know you are the weirdest human any of us have ever met," I huffed and he chuckled, "but even you can struggle to understand everything going on."

I sighed. "It's not that hard," I said honestly. "It's just… I'm worried about what will happen when Edward shows up. He was my first love and he betrayed me. I'm angry at him but at the same time I can kind of understand why he did what he did. I don't want him to die but at the same time…"

"You want him punished for what he did," Peter finished.

I nodded, feeling guilty at my thoughts. I was being honest when I said I didn't want him to die. I still cared for him even after what he had done. He was my first love and when people were right when they say you don't forget your first love. Even though I am happy with Rose there is still a small part of me that missed the boy who saved me from a van and from those guys in Port Angeles.

I blushed when I realized Peter was staring at me. "Yes," I said, quickly trying to cover my embarrassment. "I don't like that he manipulated his family to leave just to keep me and Rose apart. I just don't get why he did it. It took me a while to realize that's not what love is about. Love is about doing anything to make the other person happy, even if you can't be with them."

"Edward may be over 100 years but he still has the mind of a seventeen year old boy," Peter said. "Kids that age are generally selfish and Edward is no different. Despite everything I've heard and the fact that I don't like him, I do think he loved you."

Everyone seemed so convinced Edward loved me but after all this time I still couldn't be sure.

"How's Charlie?" I asked when it grew quiet. Rosalie was still upstairs. I doubt she was still on the phone with Esme though. I think she was giving Peter and me a chance to talk since we really hadn't had a chance since I got here. I had talked to Charlotte a bit but not Peter.

"He's adjusting," Peter said. "Jasper is making it a lot easier on him by absorbing his bloodlust. He misses you and feels bad for trying to bite you."

"It's not his fault," I responded automatically.

"In a way you are right," Peter agreed. "But that doesn't stop the guilt. But he has a strong coven to help him through everything."

"Coven?" I repeated. I was so used to hearing family when it came to vampires that the word was foreign to me.

"Or family if you prefer," Peter amended. "Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie and Alice decided to make their own coven when they moved here. Char and I agreed to join since you guys will be staying here, at least for a while. I'm assuming Charlie will stay because of you and his mate, when he finds her, will most likely join."

"How does that work with you and Charlotte and the others?" I asked curious. "You two drink human blood. I've never heard of human drinkers and vegetarians living together."

Peter rolled his eyes at the vegetarian nickname. "The reason human drinkers and _vegetarians _don't live together is because human drinkers are nomads. The Cullens and the Denali's prefer to maintain permanent residences while the rest of us constantly move around. Human drinkers can't stay in one spot for too long because the deaths would be noticeable. Char and I feed on bad humans, murderers and rapists, for the most part, and we have no problem travelling to feed. Even if that means we are gone for several days. It helps that we aren't trying to convert each other to our way of living. We feed how we want regardless of what the others say and do."

"Are we staying here permanently then?" I asked.

Peter shrugged. "Honestly I don't know," he replied. "I'm assuming we will be here for a while. It's a good place for Charlie to learn to control himself but after that, well that's up to Rosalie. Now Jasper's been telling us about Victoria."

I stiffened at the mention of Victoria. Peter noticed and gently patted my arm. "Don't worry," he said. "We won't allow her to cause any more trouble. Jasper and I are going to work on training the others to fight should Victoria decide to try anything. Alice hasn't had any visions of her so far but we feel that's because she's more focused with Edward's arrival."

I heard Rosalie walking down the stairs and Peter pulled his hand away from my arm. "We are meeting Esme in thirty minutes," Rosalie said.

Peter stood up. "I should go," he said. "It was nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you too," I said as Peter ran out of the house.

I got up and put my dishes in the dishwasher before heading upstairs to get ready. I had no idea where we were going so I settled on casual wear. I picked out jeans, a red and white plaid shirt and cowboy boots. I was glad Alice wouldn't be there so I didn't have to hear her complain about my clothes.

Rosalie was sitting on the couch waiting for me when I got downstairs. She eyed my outfit and shrugged. It was nice not having to worry about dressing up for her. She never tried to make me wear something fancier like Alice always did. "Ready?"

"Yes," I said and we went into the garage. I climbed into the passenger seat of Rose's car. "Is Carlisle going to be there?" I asked while she pulled out of the garage.

"No," Rosalie said gripping the steering wheel tightly. "It wouldn't be a good idea."

We sat quietly for the rest of the trip. It took ten minutes before Rose pulled into the parking lot of a small coffee shop. It seemed like a strange place to meet.

I scanned the room when we got inside but there was no sign of Esme. "Would you like some tea?" Rosalie asked, knowing I wasn't big on coffee.

"Sweet tea please," I requested.

Rosalie kissed my forehead and headed to the register. While she ordered the tea I found a small table in the corner for us to sit at. It was relatively isolated compared to the other tables so I figured it would be perfect for us.

By the time Rosalie came over to the table with my tea Esme had arrived. "Do you want to try it?" I asked Rosalie offering her the cup.

Rosalie wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Definitely not," she said, as Esme got to our table, "I'm not Emmett."

"Hello," Esme greeted nervously. I had never seen her nervous before. It was surprising.

I glanced at Rose before turning my attention to Esme. "Hi," I said. I gestured to the chair across from me.

She took the hint and sat down. "It's good to see you again Bella," she said softly. "You look well."

"Thanks," I said. Rosalie rested her hand on my thigh as a show of possessiveness as well as a way to keep us both calm. "It's good to see you too."

I sipped my tea while Esme struggled to find the right words. "I'm sorry about Carlisle," Esme finally said.

"You've said that," Rosalie said. I poked her hand to try to get her to behave.

"I did," Esme agreed. She focused her attention on me instead of Rosalie since I was the more reasonable one. It was a good strategy. If she could get me on her side then Rosalie would have no choice but to follow, even if she wasn't happy about it. "I've had a long talk with Carlisle and he regrets his actions. I know he has a… blindness when it comes to Edward. Edward was his first companion and they have a connection that even I don't understand. But Carlisle is starting to see that Edward isn't perfect despite his gift."

"So he's not going to send me away with Edward?" I asked concerned.

Rosalie tightened her grip on my thigh as she waited for Esme's reply. "Goodness no," Esme replied, horrified at the thought. "Even if you were Edward's mate I would never allow Carlisle, or Edward for that matter, to force to go with him."

Rosalie relaxed her grip. "Is there something you wanted other than to say you don't agree with your husband?" Rosalie inquired.

"Rose," I scolded.

"In part," Esme admitted despite the fact that Rosalie's question was rude. "I miss Bella and all of you. You're my children, even you Bella," she added when she saw my face. "I know things have been difficult since we left Forks and I know I am partly to blame. I didn't want to leave. I knew it was a bad idea but I let Carlisle and Edward convince me it was the best thing for everyone. Obviously they were wrong."

"Obviously," Rosalie repeated coldly.

"Rosalie Lillian Whitlock, be nice," I scolded angrily. I get that she's angry but she was going too far. Esme never did anything except sit back and do nothing. There was no reason to be so rude.

Rosalie looked at me and sighed. "I'm sorry," she said to the both of us. "That was uncalled for."

"I understand where you are coming from," Esme said. She looked hesitant to bring something up and I wondered what was wrong. "You mentioned Victoria, was she responsible for Charlie being changed?"

"I changed him after Victoria left him for dead at his home," Rosalie informed her. "We were lucky his heart was still beating when I found him."

I winced at the memory.

"Jasper was right," Esme said sadly. "We should have listened and taken care of Victoria sooner. Charlie would still be human then."

I looked up from my cup in surprise. "I thought you didn't advocate killing," I whispered so no one would overhear.

"I don't advocate killing," Esme said. "But when it comes to protecting my family I would do anything including kill the vampire that wants you dead."

"Alice has been keeping an eye on her," Rosalie told Esme. "She hasn't seen much but she has a bad feeling about it. Jasper plans on training us, especially Charlie. If Victoria shows up for Bella, will you fight for her?"

"Yes," Esme without hesitation. "I won't abandon Bella again. Carlisle is flying back to Alaska to talk to Tanya and others."

I glanced at Rosalie. "Tanya is the leader of the Denali's," Rosalie said. "Are they coming here?"

"I don't know," Esme confessed. "They might, or Tanya might just send Carmen and Eleazar."

"Eleazar was in the Volturi for a while," Rosalie explained before I could ask. "He has experience fighting and with his gift it will help to deal with Victoria."

"Do we really need all of you to fight Victoria?" I asked.

"Yes," Esme and Rosalie said at the same time.

"She's skilled at avoiding us," Rosalie elaborated. "We underestimated her before but we won't make that mistake again. You will not be alone until we can deal with her and I wouldn't put it past her to try something to distract us so she can get to you."

"Don't be too hard on Edward when he comes," Esme said. Rosalie growled. "What he did was wrong and I don't condone that behavior but he does love Bella. This isn't going to be easy for him so please, at least give him a chance."

"I won't do anything unless he starts anything," Rosalie said. "But I will protect myself and Bella no matter what. If he wants to talk to her and apologize for what he did, fine, let him, but if I hear he's trying to get her back I will not offer him a second chance."

"That's all I can ask for," Esme said. She seemed surprised Rosalie agreed to that much.

"I don't want him alone with Bella, ever,"" Rosalie continued. "The same goes for Carlisle."

Esme nodded. "I understand," Esme said.

"Do you want a refill?" Rosalie asked when my drink was empty.

"Sure," I said handing over my cup.

Rosalie got up and I played with my straw wrapper. "How are you doing?" Esme asked concerned. "It must be hard no being able to see Charlie."

"It is," I admitted. "I've seen him a few times but he's so different. Is it like that for everyone?"

"In the beginning yes," Esme said. "Even Emmett struggled as a newborn." I looked down at the wrapper I had shredded. Esme reached over and grabbed my hand. "It won't be like this forever and he will return to his normal self."

"I know," I said. "I just… I guess a part of me didn't expect it to be like this. I expected him to be like the rest of you, gold eyes and kind. It's weird seeing him with red eyes and knowing that a part of him wants to kill me."

Rosalie returned with another sweet tea for me. "He's getting better," she whispered in my ear. "His biggest motivation is you. He wants to see you again so he tries harder to resist. Jasper, Peter and Emmett are going to take him out to car crashes soon. It's more controlled and easier for them to pull Charlie away from the blood if needed."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Esme asked concerned. "Charlie won't forgive himself if he hurts anyone."

"Alice has checked and she doesn't see anything going wrong," Rosalie told her. "She's certain Jasper and Peter could do it alone but Emmett will be there as an extra precaution."

Esme didn't look pleased at the idea but seemed to realize there was nothing she could say or do to make the situation better. I excused myself to the bathroom and when I came back Esme was gone. "Carlisle's plane leaves in a couple hours," Rosalie explained. "She wanted to see him before he left."

Rosalie got my one last refill before we headed back home. Alice and Jasper were waiting for us when we returned. "Rosalie," Alice exclaimed in horror.

"Alice," Rosalie said moving closer to me. "What's wrong?"

"I saw Victoria," she said. "I finally got a clear vision. It's bad Rose, really bad. She's building an army. She doesn't know where we are yet but it's only a matter of time."

"How long do we have?" Rosalie questioned, pulling me against her.

She ran her hands through my hair and she whispered soothing words in my ear. It took me a moment to realize I was shaking from Alice's news.

"I don't know," Alice replied hysterically. "I can't see that far. I just know she's building a newborn army."

"We need to start training as soon as possible," Jasper added. He looked between me and Alice and suddenly I was calmer, as way Alice. "If Victoria's starting an army this will be bad. We need more people to fight."

"Carlisle is going to Alaska to address the Victoria situation," Rosalie said.

"I'll call him," Alice volunteered. "I'll see if he can convince the Denali's to come."

Alice left the room to call Carlisle. "If you need more help you could change me," I blurted out.

"Absolutely not," Rosalie said, nostrils flaring. I winced and Rosalie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I will change you but I will not do it when you are in fear of your life. I will not force this on you."

I sighed. It was pointless to argue even though her logic was flawed. I've wanted to be changed for over a year. Sure I've feared for my life the majority of the time but I wanted to be changed before that started.

There was a knock on the door and I jumped. Jasper and Rosalie ignored it. They were too busy discussing their plans for training and Alice was still on the phone. I pulled myself from Rosalie's arms and made my way to the door.

I don't know what I was expecting when I pulled the door open but it certainly wasn't this. Standing in front of me the gold-eyed, bronze haired boy that left me alone in the woods months earlier.

Edward had returned.


	28. Chapter 28

_I have the rest of this story planned out and there will be another 7-10 chapters, including an epilogue._

* * *

><p>Rosalie<p>

I could smell him as soon as Bella opened the door. Leave it to Edward to show up at the worst possible time. I do not have time to deal with him.

"Hello Bella," he greeted.

Bella's heart was beating out of control. "Fear," Jasper whispered to me. "She's afraid of him."

I was by her side in the blink of an eye. "Hello Rosalie," Edward greeted cautiously. His eyes were focused on Bella. He didn't even look up when I approached.

"Edward," I greeted stiffly. "What are you doing here?" I already knew the answer but I wanted to hear it from him.

"I wanted to see Bella of course," he said.

_She's not yours_, I thought knowing he would hear me. He frowned.

"That's what you think," he said quietly enough that Bella couldn't hear him. "You may have tricked her into falling for you but it won't last long."

My lip curled back exposing my teeth. "Rose," Bella said softly. She touched my shoulder and I forced myself to relax.

"Now is not a good time," I told Edward.

"Ah yes, Victoria," he said. He must have read it from Alice and/or Jasper's thoughts because I wasn't thinking about it.

"Yes Victoria," I said glaring at him. "Do you remember the vampire you left Bella alone to deal with?"

Edward glanced at Bella with a pained expression on his face. "Bella I am so sorry," he said softly. "I had no idea Victoria would go after you, that she would blame you for James. I should have known better. Please forgive me."

"I…" Bella began. She couldn't get the words out. She looked back and forth between me and Edward, unsure what to say. "I don't know Edward."

It was nice to know she wasn't dazzled by Edward like she was before. It was one of the things that worried me.

"You hurt me when you left," Bella continued. "Not only that you took my family away from me. You lied to me, you manipulated me and then you just left. You've been lying to me since we met and I don't know if I can forgive you for that."

"Bella, love," he said stepping toward Bella. I growled. He turned to me. "Stay out of this Rosalie."

"No Edward," Bella said moving closer to me. "You don't get to come here and tell her what to do. I know everything. I know you knew I am Rosalie's mate and yet you flaunted our relationship in front of her. You had to know the consequences of that. You had to know it could have killed her."

I stared at Bella in surprise. I didn't recall ever telling Bella about that. Bella blushed. "Emmett may have mentioned it," she admitted. Damn Emmett. I didn't plan on telling her that because I didn't want her to feel obligated to be with me.

I looked at Edward and he looked ready to rip me apart. I actually felt bad for him though it didn't last long. "I didn't think you would stoop so low," Edward muttered.

I sighed. "What are you talking about Edward?" I asked.

"Faking that story to try and convince her you're mates," Edward scoffed. "It's ridiculous." He turned to Bella. "You two are not mates. She's just using you to get back at me. You are my mate and you always have been. I came back for you."

"No," Bella said, before I had a chance to speak. She was shaking her head. "No. I don't believe you. Rosalie loves me."

Edward's nostril's flared and I crouched down beside Bella. "Don't even think about it," I snarled.

"Back off man," Emmett said appearing behind Edward.

Edward turned and faced Emmett. "You are standing beside her?" he questioned surprised. "She left you for Bella. She destroyed both our chances at happiness and you are letting her."

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen," Esme shouted.

Alice was good. She managed to call Esme and Emmett after talking to Carlisle.

"Esme," Edward greeted going over to hug her.

She held up her hand to stop him. "You have done some questionable things over the years but this has got to be the worst," she said. "You know better than to interfere in a mated couple's relationship. What in God's name were you thinking?"

I wanted to be the one to put Edward in his place but I had to admit watching Esme yell at him was the most entertaining thing I had seen in a very long time. "Bella is mine," Edward protested.

"Bella is not yours," Esme yelled. "She has never been yours Edward. You lost her long before you left her even if she didn't realize it yet."

"But she's my singer," Edward said. "And I was able to suck the venom out. That's proof we belong together."

"That's right Edward," Jasper said walking out of the house. Edward looked hopeful when heard Jasper. Jasper must be blocking his thoughts. "Bella is your singer. You crave her blood more than anything. I've felt it. Now I won't deny that you love her because I can tell that you do but your desire to drain her is just as strong. As for you sucking out the venom," Jasper continued ignoring Edward's attempts to talk, "you were only able to do that because I absorbed your bloodlust. Without me you would have killed her."

Edward's mouth snapped shut. It seems he didn't realize that. "I…" he started but the words didn't come out. This was the first time I had ever seen him speechless.

He looked at Bella, then at me, followed by Esme and finally at Jasper. Without saying a word he took off running. "He won't be gone for long," Alice said stepping out into the open. "He's been given a lot to think about and I think he's starting to realize what the rest of us have always known."

"Will he be alright?" Bella asked. My Bella, always concerned about everyone.

Alice nodded. "He will be fine," she assured my mate. "Jasper has given him a lot to think about. Add the fact that Esme wasn't happy with him and well he's mainly off to pout. Esme's thoughts were all that pleasant to Edward, neither were mine to be honest. I showed him what he had done to you. I don't see him causing any problems though so I'm assuming he learned his lesson."

"It's good to see you Esme," Emmett said going over to hug his mother figure. Alice and Jasper also hugged her.

"It's good to see you guys too," Esme said. "I missed you all. How did your talk with Carlisle go?"

"Surprisingly well," Alice replied. "He's trying to make up for what he did. He's agreed to talk to the Denali's about getting them to come here and help. He's not sure if it will work though since we have no idea where she is. I was thinking… it may help if we can get at least some of the wolves here to help. They are made to kill vampires and with Jasper's training they would do wonders against a newborn army."

"But they will get hurt," Bella protested. "You all will get hurt."

"Silly Bella," Emmett said. "This will be a piece of cake."

One look at Bella told me she didn't believe him. Not that I blamed her. She knew next to nothing about newborns, especially when it came to fighting. "Maybe you should explain why it will be easy," I told Emmett.

"Tonight we will be meeting in the field behind our Peter and Charlotte's house," Jasper announced. He spoke directly to Bella. "I will explain then why you don't need to worry, that is if you can wait that long," he added winking at Bella.

Bella glared at him but nodded. "Excellent," he said. "Esme, you are welcome to invite Edward to our training as long as he agrees to behave."

"I'll let him know," she agreed.

"Where's Charlie?" Bella asked.

"He's hunting with Peter and Charlotte," Jasper replied. "He will be there tonight though. He will need the most training."

"What about your visions?" I asked Alice. "If the wolves help you won't be able to see anything."

"As soon as they decide to help I should be able to see if we all survive. I won't be able to see about them though but Bella's future should be enough," she said.

Once the others left Bella called Jacob to see if any of the wolves would be willing to fight. "Hello," Jacob Black's voice called.

"Jake it's Bella," Bella said.

"Bella," Jacob exclaimed. "How are you?"

"I'm okay Jake," she said. "I actually needed to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Jacob said. He wasn't as happy now as he was before. "What's up?"

"Alice had a vision about Victoria," there was silence on the other line, "she is building a newborn army. We don't know when or where but Alice is worried. Jasper is going to start training the others to fight and they are hoping the Denali's will come but Alice was hoping you guys can help."

"Hold on," Jake said barely able to contain his rage. "Let me get Sam. I can't decide this."

I heard rustling on the other line. Jacob must be running to Sam's house. "Bella," he said two minutes later. "Sam's here."

"Hi Sam," Bella greeted.

"Hello Bella," Sam returned. "Is Rosalie nearby?"

"Yes," Bella said glancing at me. "She can hear us."

"Alright, Jacob filled me in a bit," Sam said. "I can't allow all of us to go help because there would be no one to protect Forks and La Push. I can, however, spare a few wolves, as long I get assurances that your vampires will do everything in their power to protect my pack."

"You have my word Sam," I called loud enough for him to hear.

"Okay then," Sam said. "I'll send Jacob along with Seth and Embry. That's the best I can do."

"That's perfect," I said. Three wolves would go a long way to helping us. "If you want we can take care of the arrangements. You would just have to tell us when they are ready to leave."

Sam paused for a minute, probably trying to figure out when would be a good time. "I'll send them tomorrow," he finally said.

"Great," I said. "I'll have Bella text Jacob when we get a time picked out."

"Okay," Sam agreed. There was some shuffling around and Jacob was back on the phone.

"See you soon Bella," he said.

"Bye Jake," Bella said before hanging up.

I went straight to the study and turned on the computer. I now had three tickets to buy. I was thinking first class so they would get some good food on their flight. I knew the wolves well enough to know they would be hungry and I didn't want them starving before they got here.

I booked three first class tickets from Seattle to Houston at two in the afternoon. It should be plenty of time for them to get to Seattle without making them get up too early and they would be here in plenty of time to eat and train.

"Text Jake and let him know the flight is at 2pm," I told my mate. "They should be there by 1pm at the latest. The tickets are under Jacob's name."

Bella nodded and sent a quick message to Jacob. Thirty seconds later her phone vibrated. "He says 'thanks'," she told me.

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"Not really," she replied tucking her phone away.

"Why don't I make you a picnic for later tonight?" I suggested. "That way you can eat while we train."

"Okay," she agreed. She climbed on my lap and rested her head against my cold shoulder. "How long do we have until we have to go?"

"Not long," I said checking the time. "It will be getting dark soon. Jasper and Peter will take Charlie hunting one last time before going so there's no hurry."

An hour later I made a picnic dinner for Bella and we were walking to the field behind Peter and Charlotte's house. I caught Edward's scent when we were almost there. "Calm Rose," Jasper said from across the field. I glanced at him and saw Edward next to him. "He wants to talk to you and Bella."

I dropped the picnic basket and blanket on the ground next to Esme. Peter and Charlie still weren't there yet. Peter probably wanted to warn Charlie about Edward.

"Bella, Rosalie," Edward greeted with a bow.

"What do you want Edward?" I demanded.

Edward hesitated. "I wanted to apologize to both of you," he said. I narrowed my eyes at the bronze haired boy. What was he up to? "This isn't a trick. What Esme said really got to me. You didn't hear her thoughts. She was actually ashamed of me and I don't want her to ever think that again." He turned his attention to Bella. "I'm sorry Bella. I shouldn't have said what I did and… I should have been honest from the beginning. I shouldn't have left you the way that I did. It was wrong of me and I'm sorry."

"I don't know if I can forgive you for that," Bella said. Edward's face fell slightly. It wasn't enough for Bella to notice but I could see it. "I am willing to try and start over and maybe be friends," Bella offered.

Edward smiled. "I would like that," he said. "Would you like to go for coffee tomorrow?"

They both looked at me and I sighed. "Take Jasper with you," I said. "I want someone close by just in case." I still didn't trust Edward and knew Jasper would be able to tell if Edward's intentions weren't as pure as he claimed.

Jasper gathered us around just as Charlie and Peter arrived. "Hey Bella," Charlie greeted cheerfully. He had to yell so she would hear him.

Bella waved and glanced at Edward. No one had told Charlie Edward was here. Peter had made sure Charlie hunted before bringing him, in hopes of Charlie being a bit calmer.

Charlie caught sight of the bronze hair and crouched down. In the blink of an eye I had Bella in my arms and by Emmett's side. If Charlie was going to attack Edward I didn't want Bella in the crosshairs. "You," Charlie snarled. "You dare show your face here after everything you have done."

Emmett and Peter stood in front of Charlie to keep him from attacking. Personally I would have let Charlie go but whatever. "I'm sorry," Edward said backing away from the angry Charlie. He knew enough about newborns to know to stay away when they were angry.

Charlie stopped and cocked his head to the side. I had almost forgotten about his gift. He would be able to tell if Edward was truly sorry. Edward whipped around to look at me. I guess no one told him about Charlie's gift. Oops.

"You really are sorry," Charlie muttered. "Why did you do it?"

"I wanted to protect Bella," Edward said. "And I wanted to keep Rosalie and Bella apart. I never wanted to take away Bella's soul and I knew that if she was with her true mate she would be changed sooner or later. I didn't want that for her, no matter who she was with." He swallowed hard. "I will admit I didn't want Rosalie and Bella together. I was angry that Rosalie was going to steal her away. It wasn't until Esme spoke to me that I realized Bella was never mine in the first place."

"He's telling the truth," Charlie said.

He walked away from Edward without another word. I didn't need my sibling's gifts to know what was wrong. He wanted to punish Edward but hearing Edward's side of the story made him change his mind.

I led Bella back to the picnic so we could begin our training. "Be careful," she said after kissing me.

"Always my Bella," I said. There was no need to tell her this was only practice. It wouldn't stop her from worrying about me.

I turned away from my mate and walked over to Jasper and the others. Jasper decided to separate us to test our fight abilities. Charlie would be working with Peter. Alice and Edward would be with Charlotte and Emmett and I would be with Jasper. Eventually we would switch as it helped to practice against others.

Every time I was up against Jasper I could hear Bella's heart beat faster. She was worried about me, even when I'm only fighting Jasper. "You are getting distracted," Jasper said. His teeth were inches from my throat. If it had been a real battle I would be dead. "You need to be focused Rose. It's the only way you can protect her."

"I am focused," I growled.

"Really? Because I could rip her throat out and you wouldn't even know it was happening," Jasper taunted. I knew what he was doing. I knew he was trying to help but it was still pissing me off.

"Shut up," I snarled.

"Oh scary," Jasper smirked. "I bet her blood is amazing. I remember how Edward felt when he sucked the venom out. He was in heaven."

"Shut up," I roared. I crashed into him and pinned him to the ground. I hit him repeatedly, not realizing he was too shocked to do anything. He wasn't even trying to fight back.

"Rose get off him," Emmett said trying to pull me off. "You will kill him."

Emmett and Peter managed to pull me off. "I'm sorry," Jasper said standing up and dusting off his clothing. Alice went to his side and held onto him. "I didn't mean for it to go that far. I wanted you to be angry, to fight. When we find Victoria your anger will control you. I know it will. I want you to learn to use that."

I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry too," I said. "I know you wouldn't hurt her."

I looked at Bella. She looked terrified. Whether it was for me or for Jasper I didn't want to know. "I'm done for the night," I said before walking back to Bella.


	29. Chapter 29

_There's a poll on my profile about which of my two Rosella ideas I should work on first after this story is finished. So, if you're hoping for another Rosella story after this please go vote._

_Before anyone panics after this chapter is over I have the next one started and should have it up by the end of the weekend._

Bella

The next day I waited for Jasper to pick me up on his motorcycle. We were going to meet Edward at Starbucks in about twenty minutes. Rose had left ten minutes ago with Alice. She didn't say where she was going and I didn't ask. I figured it was shopping and I didn't want to be invited to go along. Alice had watched me the entire time she was here, which wasn't long, and it was weird, like she was up to something.

While I waited for Jasper I decided to clean up a bit. Someone tapped my shoulder while I was vacuuming the living room. I jumped and dropped the vacuum. "Jesus Christ," I screamed over the sound of the vacuum.

I whipped around and found Jasper laughing at me. "Sorry Bella," he said after grabbing the vacuum and turning it off. "I did call your name a few times but you didn't hear me. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," I said. "Let me put the vacuum away and go grab my helmet and we can go."

I turned to roll up the cord of the vacuum. I put the vacuum away and when I turned around to head for the garage I saw Jasper was holding my motorcycle helmet. I rolled my eyes at him. "I could have done that," I told him.

Jasper shrugged. "I know," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. It sounded like he was trying to get me out of the house though I had no idea why. I followed him outside to the motorcycle. "Do you want to drive?" he asked.

I took the offered keys and climbed onto the bike with Jasper's help. I drove slower than I should have, and a lot slower than Jasper would have liked, but we made it to Starbucks in one piece. That was really all that mattered. We took our helmets off. Jasper took mine and escorted me inside the shop.

Edward was waiting for us when we arrived. "Bella," he greeted with a smile. He turned to Jasper. "Jasper."

"Edward," Jasper returned. "I will be next door if you need me," he told me. He looked to Edward. "Don't do anything stupid," he added before leaving.

"Hi," I said, not quite what sure to say to him.

"Hi," Edward said. "Do you want something to drink, or eat?"

I patted my pockets and found them empty. "I… uh… don't have any money with me," I said blushing. "Jasper didn't give me any time to grab anything." I frowned wondering why he was in such as hurry to leave.

"That's okay," he said pulling out his wallet. "I'll pay." I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off. "It's the least I can do after everything I did to you, and Rosalie."

I picked out hot chocolate and a blueberry muffin. The cashier handed me the muffin and Edward and I made our way to the table he picked out while we waited for my drink. "So," I said awkwardly.

"So," he repeated. "I'm sorry about Charlie. I know you wanted to protect him from all of this."

"Thanks," I agreed taking a bite of the muffin. "It's not as bad as I thought it would be. He's not mad at me. I thought he would be. I'm just happy I can still see him, sort of."

"He seems to be adjusting well and he will get better," Edward said. The barista called his name and he got up to get my drink. He handed it over when he returned. "I saw his thoughts last night. His thoughts were focused on you, on protecting you, on getting control so he can be around you."

"That's what Jasper and the others said," I told him. "Rosalie is a little overprotective, kind of like you were but less-"

"Controlling?" Edward offered.

I glanced at him. I never expected him to admit that, or even realize he had done it. "Yes," I said blushing.

"I'm sorry about that," Edward said. "I realize now I was a bit over-bearing. I was trying to protect you, mostly from myself. I didn't trust myself with you. I realize now, after seeing how comfortable Rosalie is around you, that it wouldn't have worked. I couldn't handle being around your blood without snapping."

"Rose isn't affected by my blood," I told him. "I cut my hand one night," his eyes darkened at the thought, whether it was being I got hurt or because of my blood I wasn't sure, "she didn't even blink. She just took care of my hand."

Edward nodded. "I would expect nothing less from her," he said. "Her control has always been better than mine, even before you came along. I'm starting to understand the mating bond better after Jasper showed me your relationship. I see now that was he said was right. We were never meant to be. No matter how much I love you I would never have the control to be with you the way Rosalie has. Her thoughts never once drifted to your blood, or the fear of killing you."

"I'm sorry Edward," I said. I felt bad for everything. Edward looked at me in confusion. "I never meant for any of this to happen. I never planned it but I was falling for her before I knew I was her mate. I never wanted to hurt you like that even though I didn't expect you to come back."

"You can't fight fate," Edward said quietly as I pushed away the muffin wrapper and napkin. "I'm starting to realize that. I shouldn't have done what I did. I could have killed you both and at the time I didn't care about the consequences and that was incredibly selfish of me. I just hope someday you can forgive me."

"You will find your mate," I said reaching over and patting his hand. "I have faith in that."

Edward looked surprised by the contact but didn't try to pull away like he would have before. "Does she make you happy?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation. I had never been happier.

"Happier then when you were with me?" he questioned.

"Yes," I confessed, not looking him in the eye. I didn't want to see the pain in his eyes.

"Bella," he said gently. "Bella, look at me please." I looked up. He was good at hiding the pain but I had spent so much time looking into his gold eyes I could still see it. "Your happiness is the only thing that matters to me, even now. If Rosalie makes you happy, if you truly love her then I wish you both the best."

"You owe her an apology," I told him. "She told me some of the things you said to her. It was uncalled for, no matter how hurt you were. She doesn't deserve that, not after everything that happened to her."

Edward winced. It wasn't one of his proudest moments. He was just so angry that the one person he loved had ended up being mated to his sister of all people. He was happy Esme didn't know about that. If she had found out she would have kicked his ass all the way back to Alaska. "I will apologize tonight," he promised.

"Can I ask you something?" I questioned after a moment's hesitation. I wasn't sure I should ask him since Jasper had already promised to answer my question but I really wanted to know.

"Of course," he said. "Can I get you a refill first?"

I nodded and he took the wrapper and empty cup and threw them in the trash. He ordered another hot chocolate and sat back down to wait for his name to be called. "Victoria is raising a newborn army," Edward's eyes darkened, "and, well Emmett is convinced everything will be fine. Will it? Will everyone survive? Jasper was supposed to explain it last night but-"

"I came and distracted him," Edward finished. I nodded. "Between us, the Denali's and the wolves we will have no trouble winning but it is impossible to guarantee no one will get hurt. I'm certain no one will die. Newborns aren't…" He paused when his name was called. He got up and grabbed my drink before returning and handing it to me. "Newborns rely on their strength, a lot like Emmett, all they care about is blood. This makes them easier to destroy but also more dangerous. You cannot allow a newborn to get their arms around you. They can and will crush every bone in your body. Promise me if you see a newborn, I highly doubt this will happen, but if you see a newborn you will scream for help and run? Don't do anything stupid like try and distract them by bleeding. That will only make things worse."

I blushed. He knew me too well. "I'm promise," I told him.

"She will be okay," Edward said. "She's strong and smart. She will survive." I felt better knowing Rose wouldn't die but I didn't like the idea of her possibly getting hurt. I didn't like the idea of any of them getting hurt.

I finished my second hot chocolate just as Jasper walked back into the Starbucks. "Are you ready to go?" he asked. There was something wrong with him.

"Yes," I said standing up. "What's wrong?"

I looked at Edward and his eye's widened in horror. "Alice had a vision," Jasper said quietly enough so that the other people in the coffee shop wouldn't overhear him. "Victoria found out where we are. She coming to Texas to build her army. She hasn't decided exactly where and we don't know when. We just know we have less time than we originally thought."

I dropped my empty cup. I knew she was coming for me but hearing this from Jasper was too much. I was vaguely aware of the fact that my cup didn't hit the group. I saw Edward holding the cup. "We will protect you Bella," he said firmly.

"H-how?" I stuttered. "How did she find out where we are?"

Jasper placed his hand on my shoulder and I started to relax. "We think she overheard you talking to Sam and Jacob on the phone," he said. "She was most likely keeping an eye on them, waiting for someone to make contact with you. Jacob mentioned they smelled her around La Push quite a bit."

This was my fault. I talked to Jacob and now she knew where we were. If someone got hurt, if someone got killed, it was my fault. I was picturing Rosalie dead because of me. "Bella," Jasper called. "Bella, it's not your fault. None of this is your fault."

He held me in his arms trying to calm me. "Listen to me," he whispered. "We are family. We will protect you no matter what. No one will die. I swear to you and if someone gets hurt. It's not your fault."

After a few minutes I calmed down enough so we could leave. "Alice says the sun will come out in thirty-four minutes," he warned Edward before we left.

"Thank you for the warning," he said. "Goodbye Bella. I'll see you tonight."

"Bye Edward," I said. I hesitated for a few seconds before pulling myself from Jasper's arms and stepping forward and hugging him. He stiffened for a moment before hugging me back.

Jasper drove toward the house. He turned down the first driveway which led to Peter and Charlotte's house. "Where are we going?" I yelled.

Jasper parked the bike in the driveway and turned the motorcycle off. "I thought you would like to see Charlie," he said. "You won't be allowed to be alone with him but I figured we could play a game or something."

"Thanks Jazz," I said hugging my brother.

He led me inside the house where Charlie, Peter and Emmett were waiting. "Hey Bellsy," Emmett greeted pulling me into his arms.

"Hey Em," I laughed. "Hi Dad," I said after Emmett put me down.

"Hi Bella," he said. "You look well."

"So do you," I said. His eyes were starting to fade to the gold I knew and loved. I looked around the room. "Where are Charlotte and Esme?"

I watched Emmett and Peter exchange looks. "They're out," Peter said. Emmett nodded beside Peter.

I glanced at Jasper but he didn't say anything else about them. "How about a game?" he suggested. Now I was certain Jasper was trying to distract me, which led me to believe Alice, Charlotte, Esme and Rose were together and up to something. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't invited considering the rest of the women were there.

Peter pulled out monopoly for us to play. It was strange, sitting at the table and playing a board game with four vampires. I never pictured them playing monopoly, especially not Peter. Emmett seemed more like the board game type.

"You're taking this Victoria thing well," Charlie commented after the money had been passed out. I could detect a hint of anger at the mention of Victoria. Peter stood up and walked to the kitchen after his first turn was done.

I shrugged. "I'm used to vampires being after me," I said without thinking.

Emmett and Jasper growled at the reminder of James. Peter returned with a bowl of chips and orange juice for me. Charlie's light red eyes narrowed. "Why do you have experience with vampires being after you?" he growled.

"Calm Charlie," Peter said placing his hand on Charlie's shoulder as a warning that Peter would restrain him if necessary. "You don't want to lose control and hurt Bella."

I mentally groaned. I didn't realize Charlie didn't know about James. I figured Emmett, Jasper and Alice told him everything. "Do you remember last spring when I went back to Phoenix?" Charlie nodded and I knew that memory still caused him pain.

"It's not your fault," Jasper said feeling my guilt. "He will understand now."

I nodded and looked at Charlie. "When they were playing baseball some nomads heard and came over to us," I explained. "James and Victoria were a mated couple and then there was Laurent. James was a tracker who was attracted to my blood. Edward insisted I leave Forks so I would be safe, so Alice and Jasper took me to Phoenix. It was fine until James called and said he had Mom. I went to the ballet studio alone and James… well you saw the damage."

"That was from a vampire?" Charlie demanded, nostrils flaring.

"Calm down Charlie," Jasper said showing his teeth. "We took care of it. Bella is safe."

Charlie closed his eyes and after five minutes and Jasper's help he was calm. "I'm sorry," he told me. "I wish I could have protected you from that."

I reached out to grab the dice when Charlie's hand shot out to grab mine. "Let her go," Emmett growled.

"Relax Em," Jasper said. "He's in control. He's just curious about something. What is it Charlie?"

"This mark," he said, running his finger over the bite James left. Uh, oh. "It looks like a bite mark, like the ones you, Peter and Charlotte have. Where did this come from?"

I pulled my hand away from him before answering since I didn't want my arm snapped in half. Somehow I didn't think Rosalie would be so understanding about that. "James bit me," I confessed.

Charlie's eye's widened in horror. He looked to Jasper. "Why isn't she a vampire then?" he questioned. "You said all it takes is one bite."

"That is true," Jasper replied. "However because the bite was on her arm away from major arteries Edward was able to suck the venom out of Bella and kept her from changing. Carlisle had to pull him off and I had to take away his bloodlust to get him to stop but it worked. I tried to get Rosalie to do it since she would have no problem stopping but Edward refused. He wanted to prove to himself that he could do it."

An hour later Peter was bored and we moved onto poker. During the game something caught Emmett's attention and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "The dogs are here," he said.

"Dogs?" Charlie asked confused. He breathed in. "What is that smell? It's terrible."

The others snickered and I glared at them. "You didn't tell him?" I asked Emmett and Jasper.

Jasper shrugged. "It never came up," he said. "The boys of La Push are shape-shifters which take the form of a wolf," he told Charlie

Charlie looked at me while Emmett slipped out of the room. "Jacob?" he asked.

I nodded. "Jake's one of them," I told him. "Jake, Seth Clearwater and Embry Call are here to help with Victoria. Sam Uley is the leader of the pack but he had to stay in La Push."

"Seth Clearwater," Charlie repeated. "He's only fifteen. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"That's what Sam said when I volunteered," Seth said from the front door. "Knock, knock," he grinned.

I got up and walked quickly to the front door. I pulled it open and found Seth standing in front of me with Jacob and Embry not far behind. "Hey Bella," Seth greeted. He had grown since I last saw him.

"Hey Seth, Embry, Jake," I said. I stepped outside of the house and threw my arms around Jacob. "I missed you Jake," I whispered in his ear, even though I knew the others could hear.

"Hey Bells," Jacob laughed. "I missed you too. I doubt your vampire will be too happy when she smells me all over you."

I realized Jacob was right and stepped away. "No she won't be happy," I admitted. I prayed Rosalie didn't go after Jacob.

"So how's Charlie doing?" Jacob asked.

"Ask him yourself," I said leading Jacob, Embry and Seth inside.

"They're letting you be in the same room as Charlie?" Jacob questioned in confusion. "Is that safe?"

"We have done everything we can to make sure Charlie is no threat to Bella," Jasper said. "We do not take Bella's safety lightly."

Jacob bowed his head. "Sorry," he said. "I know you wouldn't put her in danger I just—" He caught sight of Peter. "A human drinker," he hissed.

"We are no danger to Bella or your pack," Peter assured Jacob. "You will find myself and my mate have more control than the Cullens when it comes to human blood. The only person Bella is safer with is Rosalie."

"Where is Rosalie?" Embry questioned, speaking for the first time.

I saw my family looking at me. "She had some things to do," Jasper answered. Yep, they were definitely lying. "How was your flight?"

"It was amazing," Seth said dreamily. "All we could eat food and drinks plus we watched some cartoons."

"It was good," Jake admitted. "The flight attendant was a little surprised when we requested our meat rare, and ordered more than one steak."

Jasper chuckled. "I can see how that would surprise them," he said. He checked his watch. "We will be meeting in the backyard in a couple hours for training. Until then," he pulled out his wallet and handed Jake some money and a piece of paper, "we rented a couple hotel rooms for you three. There should be enough money there to feed you while you're here but if you need more don't hesitate to ask. We owe you a lot for helping us. Let's see I think I'm missing something," he tapped his chin, "right, that's it. The Denali's will be here in a day or so. They live in Alaska and are vegetarians like us."

Jacob nodded and took the paper and money. "We will do our best not to comment on your friends lifestyle choices as long as we don't see it," he promised. "We will go to the hotel and get checked in. We will be back in a few hours for training."

They said goodbye and left. "Aww man Charlotte going to kill me," Peter said. "The house stinks."

I glared at Peter and tossed a pillow at him. He caught it with ease. "Be nice to them," I said. "They are helping us."

A few hours later we were back in the open area behind Peter and Charlotte's house. I sighed when I didn't see Rosalie. Where was she? Was she avoiding me? Did I do something wrong? I sat down in the grass and wrapped my arms around my legs, hugging them against my chest.

Jasper walked over to me and sat down. "She's not mad at you," he said putting his hand on mine. "She just has some things to do. I promise you did nothing wrong."

"Why isn't she training?" I asked, trying my best the hide the panic. If she wasn't here that meant she wasn't getting the help she needed to protect her during the fight.

"She doesn't need it as much as the others," Jasper told me. Jacob, Seth and Embry had showed up by now, in their wolf forms. Edward was acting as translator. "She's spent many years training with me. Don't worry, she will be back tomorrow for training. She loves you Bella. She's not trying to hurt you, I promise." He sat quietly for a minute. "Do you want me to stay here with you?"

I nodded and leaned against him. I missed Rosalie's cool body. We hadn't been apart much since she came back for me and we definitely hadn't been apart for this long. It was starting to take its toll. I wondered if Jasper felt like this when he was away from Alice.

"What are you curious about?" he questioned. We watched as Peter and Charlotte instructed the wolves on the proper way of dealing with a newborn. Peter had set Charlie and Emmett to fight each other since Charlie was a newborn and Emmett fought like a newborn. It was good practice for them.

"Do you feel like this, like there's a hole in your heart, whenever you are separated from Alice?" I asked. I winced when Emmett got a good shot on Charlie. He was thrown into a tree about thirty feet away.

"I do," Jasper answered. "I didn't realize humans felt that too. Then again you haven't been separated from Rosalie long since the two of you were mated. The pain is easier to manage the longer you are together. I think you would be better off if you got to speak to her sometime throughout the day."

We sat together, watching the others train for the battle. I couldn't see much because they moved too fast but I saw enough to know they were doing a decent job. Despite their age the wolves managed to hold their own against the vampires. Jacob was better than Embry and Seth and that worked to his advantage. "Do you think it's a good idea to let Seth go out and fight?" I questioned.

Seth turned to face me and growled softly. Apparently he didn't like me thinking he was too young to fight. "He may be young but he is good," Jasper said. "He's small and fast. It works well for him. Don't worry, we will keep the wolves safe."

Jasper took me home after the training finished two hours later. I still hadn't seen Rosalie all day and I missed her. I silently prayed she was there when I arrived. Jasper led me to the back door. "We'll see you tomorrow," he said.

He ran away before I could say anything, like ask if she was here. I frowned at the spot he stood seconds earlier. The door was unlocked and I let myself in. There was no sign of Rosalie as I made my way upstairs. I slowly made my way to my room but first I stopped to glance in Rosalie's room. The door was open but there was no sign that she had ever used the room. I sighed and pushed my door open.

What I saw surprised me. The room was decorated in roses and candles, much like Rosalie had the room decorated when we made love for the first time. What was the most shocking was the fact that Rosalie was standing in the center of the room wearing a short, low cut purple dress that left little to the imagination. Her long blonde hair was curled. I didn't think it was possible for her to look even more beautiful.

"What's going on?" I asked, noticing that the hole in my heart was gone now that Rosalie was here with me.

Rosalie moved closer to me. "Bella," she said softly. "I love you so much. You are my heart, my soul, my love. Isabella Marie Swan," she grabbed a small box off the bed, knelt down in front of me and opened the box revealing the most beautiful diamond ring I had ever seen, "will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"


	30. Chapter 30

_So I didn't get this out Sunday night. Between the birthday parties and school work I didn't have time but I did try._

_The poll is still up for anyone that wants to vote on the next Rosella story._

_This story was nominated for the Non-Canon Awards for best Rosalie/Bella story. I want to thank whoever nominated it and please vote for it if you feel so inclined. Voting begins April 2__nd__._

Rosalie

I held my breath as I waited for her reply. She was staring at the ring that I held in my hand. I spent half the day picking out the perfect ring for Bella. One that was simple, because I knew Bella wouldn't want anything fancy, yet still beautiful, like her.

If I were human my heart would be beating out of control. As it was I was starting to get impatient but I wouldn't rush her. I wanted her to really think about it before she answered. I know her views on marriage weren't the most positive. I hoped that our love was stronger than that.

"Bella," I said softly. "If you don't want to… we don't-" I couldn't say the words. I tried to close my hand around the ring box but Bella stopped me. It was first time she had responded since I proposed.

"Yes," she said looking up. Her chocolate brown eyes locked on mine. "I'll marry you." She grabbed the ring from my hand and slipped it on her finger.

I flashed her the brightest smile and I heard her heart beat faster. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. She responded immediately by throwing her arms around my neck and pulling me closer to her body. Today was hard on her and I felt bad for avoiding her. It wasn't on purpose. I was just afraid that if I spent more time with her I would blow it by blurting out the proposal somewhere else.

"I love you my Bella," I whispered in her ear. I lifted her off the ground with ease and carried her to our bed. I gently sat her down and crawled on top of her.

"I love you too," she replied. She pulled away long enough to pull off her top. Even after all this time I was still amazed by how perfect she was.

I reached over and undid her bra although all I wanted to do was rip it off of her. Alice wouldn't appreciate that so I took my time. My thumbs lightly grazed over her already hard nipples. She shuddered under my touch.

I felt her tugging on my dress. I had no idea when Bella got so bold but I liked it. I got on my knees and pulled the dress up over my head. Bella's eyes widened when she realized I wasn't wearing a bra or underwear. If I were human I would be blushing at the look of lust she was giving me.

She threw herself in my arms and kissed me. I ran my hands down her back and cupped her backside, lifting her onto my lap. I glanced at the jeans she was wearing and frowned. I ripped them off her body and tossed the pieces away from the bed. I ripped her underwear away from her body leaving her completely bare against my cold body.

Bella rocked her hips into mine. I moaned. There was no better feeling than having the warm body of my mate pressed against me. Her hand slipped in between our bodies. I could feel two of her fingers slip through my wet folds. "Bella," I moaned.

Her fingers slipped inside me and I moaned loudly. I gripped her hips as hard as I could without hurting her. I rolled my hips around trying to get her to go deeper and faster. "More," I groaned.

Bella pushed me down on the bed and pumped her fingers in and out of my body. I could feel my orgasm start to build but before I could go over the edge it all stopped. I growled at her until I felt her tongue on my clit.

I gripped the sheets, trying my hardest not to shred them. I was at the point that I didn't care anymore. "Bella please," I begged. She slipped her fingers back inside of me and pumped them as fast as she could while sucking on my clit. "Bella," I screamed as my orgasm hit me.

She gently pulled her fingers out and licked them clean. I growled and flipped her over before she had a chance to blink. I kissed her hard enough to bruise her lips. I felt a little guilty but the vampire in me didn't care.

My lips wrapped around her nipple and I felt her moving under my body. Her center was rubbing against mine and I moaned against her. I eased my hand between our bodies and entered her with two fingers. Her back arched against mine as I pumped my fingers.

"My beautiful Bella," I whispered. She moaned loudly as I kissed down her body.

I circled her clit with my tongue and smiled as she wiggled around underneath me. Her moans got louder as she grew closer and closer to the edge. I curled my fingers and Bella screamed my name as she came.

I crawled onto the bed beside her and gently kissed her forehead. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too Bella," I replied.

Bella and I were lying in bed several hours later. I was surprised she was still awake as she usually fell asleep after we make love. It was more now and we had been up all night.

I played with the ring on her finger. "We should get dressed," I muttered though I didn't try to move.

"No," she mumbled sleepily. "We should stay right here. Forever."

I smiled. As much as I hated what I was and as much as I didn't want Bella to become a vampire, I did like the thought of forever with her. "The Denali's will be showing up today," I reminded her.

"Do you think they will like me?" she asked, tracing circle's on my stomach.

"They will love you," I told her.

"Can you tell me about them?" she questioned.

I was surprised by the question until I realized we hadn't told her about them. "Well there's Tanya, the leader of the Denali's, followed by Kate and Irina. Irina is mated to Laurent while Tanya and Kate are unmated. Kate is a huge flirt so don't be surprised if she flirts with you." I growled at the thought.

"There's no need to be jealous love," Bella said gently cupping my cheek. "I'm yours and only yours." I closed my eyes and leaned into her touch. After a minute I opened my eyes and saw Bella staring at me. "You really are the most beautiful person I've ever seen."

I would be blushing if I were human. I pulled her closer to me so I could kiss her. "How did your talk with Edward go?" I asked when I pulled away from her.

"It was good," Bella replied. "He really does seem to feel bad for how he treated us. He even agreed to apologize to you for what he said." I was touched Bella convinced him to apologize for those comments. "Jasper said Alice had a vision about Victoria being in Texas."

The bed vibrated as I growled. I wouldn't let that bitch hurt my mate. I was going to rip her into pieces and make her watch as I burned them. "Rose, calm," she said softly, running her fingers through my hair.

"Sorry," I said taking a few deep breaths. I breathed in Bella's calming scent. "I won't let her hurt you. I will kill her myself."

"I know," Bella said. "I trust you Rose. I'm not afraid of her anymore."

"But you're afraid of the newborns," I said. I didn't need Jasper's gift to know that.

"I'm afraid someone will get hurt or killed," she admitted. "I'm afraid of you getting hurt and it being my fault. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you."

"Shh, my Bella," I said pulling her on my body. "I will be fine and if me, or someone else, were to get hurt it would not be your fault."

"But—"

I covered her mouth with my finger. "It will not be your fault," I said firmly, running my thumb along her bottom lip. "We started this and we will be finishing it. There are a lot of human's lives at stake if Victoria is allowed to live. None of us could sit by and let them die."

My phone vibrated from its spot on the nightstand. I sighed and pulled away from Bella so I could check it. It was a text message from Alice.

_Sorry to interrupt but the Denali's will be here in an hour. ~Alice_

"What's wrong?" Bella asked.

"The Denali's will be here soon," I told her. "We need to get dressed."

"I should probably shower," Bella said as she started to get up.

"No," I said grabbing her hand keep her from leaving. "Don't shower. You smell like me," I explained when she looked confused. "It will show the Denali's you belong to me and it will keep Kate and Tanya from trying anything."

I couldn't handle Tanya or Kate trying to steal my mate. It wasn't as though I thought they would try. They have been around long enough to know better but still, they loved to flirt.

She climbed back on the bed and cupped my face. "No one is going to take me from you," she promised. I held her hand against my face, enjoying the smell of her blood. "I thought I always smelled like you."

"You do," I told her. "However it's faint and unless a vampire is familiar with my scent it will be harder to them to tell you're mine. I will feel better after you're changed."

She dropped her hand. "You want me to be changed?" she whispered.

"I've had a lot of time to think about it," I confessed. "No matter how much I hate this life, I couldn't imagine spending it without you. So, after Victoria is dealt with, if you still want to be changed, I'll do it."

She leaned over and kissed me. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," I said. "Come on, we need to get dressed before Alice comes looking for us."

Bella looked horrified at the thought of Alice walking in on us. While she dug around for some clothes I ran to my room and grabbed an outfit. I was back in Bella's room, fully dressed, before she turned around.

She frowned when she saw me. "You could have taken your time," she said.

I laughed and wrapped my arms around her bare body. "You can get me naked again soon enough," I told her.

She blushed and pulled away so she could get dressed.

We decided to walk to Peter and Charlotte's house. "What happens to me during the battle?" Bella asked. "All of you will be fighting, but what about me?"

"I'm not fighting," I said. I could practically feel her relief at the news. "I'll take you somewhere until the fight is over and we will stay of the way until it's over."

"What about the others though?" she asked. "I don't want you choosing me over them. What if they get hurt?"

"Bella," I said grabbing her hands. "You are my mate. It is my job to watch over you. The others would do the same thing in my position. They don't blame me for staying with you. In fact they would be more concerned if I did choose to fight."

She still wasn't sure it was a good idea but didn't say anything as we got to the house. We still had a bit of time before the Denali's arrived.

"Did you feed her at all?" Charlotte asked as we walked into the house. Charlotte was eyeing Bella and it was getting on my nerves.

Bella blushed. "We were busy," I said smirking at Charlotte. It was my way of letting Charlotte know Bella was mine.

Her eyes locked onto the ring Bella was wearing. "Oh my God," she squealed. "Alice, why didn't you tell us?"

Alice spotted the ring. "I didn't know," she said honestly. "I promised Rose I wouldn't check."

"What's going on?" Emmett asked confused.

"Bella and I are engaged," I announced.

I focused on Charlie and Edward's reactions. I had a good idea how the others would react and they didn't worry me. What worried me the most was how Charlie and Edward took the news. The others congratulated us while Charlotte excused herself to make breakfast for Bella before the others showed up.

"Congratulations," Edward said when it grew quiet. "I'm happy for the both of you." I stared at him, looking any sign of anger or deception. There was none. If he was upset he didn't a great job at hiding it.

Bella stepped forward and hugged her ex-boyfriend. Edward pulled away sooner than they both wanted. My thoughts showed exactly what I thought about them hugging, even though I knew Bella only cared about him as a friend.

"I am not a threat to your relationship," Edward said quietly enough that Bella couldn't hear him.

"Dad," Bella said turning her attention to her father.

Charlie hadn't spoken since we arrived. He seemed to be avoiding eye contact with us, probably because he didn't want to focus on the fact that my scent was all over her and vice versa.

"That is what you want?" Charlie asked. Bella nodded. "Then I'm happy for you." He stepped toward me and offered his hand. "Take care of my daughter."

"Always Charlie," I said shaking his hand.

Charlotte called Bella to the kitchen for breakfast. "Charlotte you didn't have to make so much food," Bella said staring at the mountain of food on the table which included bacon, eggs, sausage and pancakes.

Charlotte shrugged. "I wasn't sure what you like so I made sure I had a bit of everything," she said.

Bella and I sat at the table with Esme, Alice and Charlotte while the guys talked about the upcoming battle. They were way too excited about this. "So, are you excited about getting married?" Esme asked. "I know you didn't like the idea of marriage before."

Bella looked up from her plate. "It's not as scary as I thought it would be," she said. "I love Rosalie and that's all that matters to me." I smiled and leaned over to kiss her.

Alice closed her eyes for half a second before her expression turned horrified. "Don't you dare," she yelled at Bella. I growled at her for yelling at my mate. "I will destroy Rosalie's car if you try."

My head shot up. "You better not touch my car," I warned. I turned to my mate. "What did you decide to make her threaten my car?"

Bella looked guilty. "I kind of figured we could get married in Vegas," she said. That would do it. In all our years, and the many weddings, we had never once gone to Vegas for a wedding. Alice hated the idea of getting married in Vegas.

"Don't worry Alice," I said. "We won't get married in Vegas." Alice grinned. "We can have a small ceremony here."

The smile quickly turned into a frown. "I want to plan it," she said firmly.

"Fine," I agreed. There was no way around it. Alice would know exactly how to win any argument. I loved my sister but sometimes her gift was extremely frustrating. Alice bounced in her seat. "But all your ideas must go through Bella first and if she says no then you follow her wishes," I added at the last minute.

Alice looked back and forth between me and Bella. She sighed. "Alright then," she agreed though it pained her to do so. She closed her eyes again. "They will be pulling into the driveway in two minutes."

Exactly two minutes later I heard two cars pull into the driveway. There was a knock at the door and Bella jumped. Peter got out of his chair to go answer the door. "You must be Peter," a woman's voice said. I recognize the voice as Tanya's. "I'm Tanya Denali."

"Welcome," Peter said, stepping aside so they could come in. "Please come in. The girls are in the kitchen."

I moved closer to Bella as they walked into the house. They stopped in the living room to greet the guys. "Uh oh," Alice said.

"What Alice?" I asked.

"Charlie just found his mate," Alice said. Bella's eye's widened in surprise.

"Who?" she choked.

"Tanya," she replied.

Oh boy. This would be fun. "Do you think we can tell them to keep it in their pants long enough to get introductions out?" I asked. Bella blushed.

"I heard that," Tanya yelled. She walked into the room followed by Kate, Irina, Laurent, Carmen and Eleazar. "I can control myself for a few minutes."

Bella caught sight of Laurent and scooted closer to me. I didn't blame her. He was with James and Victoria when they started hunting her. "I guess she remembers me," the dark skinned man said. "Hello Bella."

Kate eyed Bella and I growled. "Oh calm down Rosalie," she said rolling her eyes. "I have no desire to steal your mate, though she does look delicious." She winked at Bella.

I crouched down in front of Bella. "Rosalie enough," Jasper said walking into the room. He was our unofficial coven leader and we did what he said whether we agreed with it or not. "She doesn't want Bella. We don't have time for this."

Bella touched my shoulder and I stood up and wrapped my arms around her. "Well that was fun," Tanya said. "Bella, I'm Tanya Denali, that's my sister Kate and my other sister Irina, you already know her mate Laurent. Those two in the corner are Carmen and Eleazar."

"Nice to meet you all," Bella said.

Eleazar was staring at Bella. "What is it El?" Carmen questioned.

"She's a shield," he said as Charlie came into the room and stood beside Tanya. "She's blocking me but I don't think she realizes it." He focused on Charlie. "And Charlie is a lie detector. He can tell if he's being lied to but he can't force the truth out of anyone."

"That's an interesting theory," Edward said. He was looking at Eleazar.

"What theory?" Jasper asked, looking back and forth between Edward and Eleazar.

"Bella seems to be a mental shield and Charlie's gift is mental. I'm curious if Bella can block Charlie's gift," Eleazar explained.

That was a good question. Then again Bella was such a horrible liar that Charlie's gift was unnecessary. Edward snorted.

"Can we test it?" Tanya asked curious.

"Bella," Eleazar said. "Could you please lie to Charlie?"

Bella looked at her father. She was quiet for a few minutes before saying, "Rose and I are getting married in Vegas."

Alice looked horrified once again, despite knowing Bella was lying. Eleazar focused on Charlie. "I know she's lying," Charlie said. "But if I didn't already know I wouldn't be able to tell."

"A strong mental shield," Eleazar said clearly impressed. "She's not even aware she's blocking Edward, Charlie and myself. I wonder… Kate."

I crouched proactively in front of Bella. I let off a warning growl. I knew exactly what Kate's gift was and I wasn't going to allow her to hurt my mate.

Kate took two steps toward us with her hands raised. "I mean no harm to the little one," she said softly. "Eleazar never would have suggested it if he thinks there's a chance she will be hurt."

"I'll try it," Bella offered, putting her hand on my shoulder.

I stood up. "If she gets hurt it's on you," I warned her with a glare.

Kate didn't seem bothered by the fact that I had just threatened her. Although she was more than ten times my age and would have no trouble winning in a fight between us.

Bella held her hand out for Kate. I held my breath as Kate took her hand. A minute passed and nothing happened. I sighed in relief. Kate frowned and tried again, this time on her highest setting. It would be enough to drop a vampire Emmett's size, and she had used it on him once because he asked.

Bella didn't react. "Amazing," Eleazar breathed. I pulled Bella into my arms. "You will need to be careful," he said. "If the Volturi finds out about her… Aro won't stop until he gets her." He paused for a second. "I'm assuming you're changing her."

"Yes," I said. "After Victoria is dealt with. The Volturi don't know about her and I have no intention of telling them."

"That would be for the best," Eleazar admitted. "What they don't know won't hurt them."

"About Victoria," Tanya said. "Laurent and Carlisle told us about her. Laurent mentioned her ability to escape. How do you plan on taking her out?"

"She wants Bella," Peter said. "I think if the opportunity to get Bella presented itself there would be no way she would run."

"We are not using Bella as bait," I snarled.

Peter held up his hands in surrender. "I wasn't suggesting that," he said. "But, you've already made it clear you won't leave her alone. If we kept her close enough to the battle so Victoria could find her—"

"Absolutely not," Charlie interrupted. "I will not have my daughter in danger again."

"Peter may have a point," Jasper said thoughtfully. Charlie and I growled at him. "Here me out. I don't like the idea of luring Victoria to Bella, however we should have Bella and Rosalie close by in case something happens."

"Jacob doesn't want Seth to be involved with the battle," Edward said. "But he can't force Seth to stay away. We could have Seth stay close to Bella and Rosalie as extra protection. He could take care of any stray newborns."

Jasper stroked his chin. "That could work," he said. "With the pack link you would know immediately if something was going on. Edward, go talk to Jacob and Seth and convince Seth that this is the best idea."

Edward nodded and excused himself.

"We still need a location," Eleazar said. "We need to be in control of where the fight will be."

"The woods would be the best place to hide Bella," Charlotte said. "Would it be possible to lead them somewhere?"

"What about the Big Thicket preserve to the northeast?" Peter suggested. "There's plenty of woods to hide Bella and a nice clearing for the rest of us."

Jasper turned to his wife. "Will it work?"

Alice closed her eyes. She couldn't see too far into the future because of the wolves but she could see enough to know if our plan would succeed. "It will work," Alice confirmed. "But we need Bella's scent to lure them. The newborns are already close by. If we plant her scent in the area they will come."

"When do we do this?" Laurent asked. We couldn't risk Bella's scent fading away so the battle would be fairly soon after we staged it.

"Next week," Alice said. "The battle will be next week. The day after Bella's scent is there."


	31. Chapter 31

_This is just a short filler chapter before the battle as I didn't want to jump right into it._

_Thanks for reading._

Bella

"Is this working?" I asked.

I was walking around the clearing with Rosalie. We had come in from the side opposite of the woods to keep the newborns from following my scent. Rosalie was going to escort me to the place where Rose and I were going camping. Seth would then follow our scents back through the woods. They hoped Seth's presence would block out my scent.

"It's fine Bella," Rosalie said from a few feet away.

"Wouldn't it be easier if I was bleeding or something?" I questioned.

Rosalie growled. "That wouldn't be a good idea," she said. "Charlie is still a newborn and we need him focused."

I sighed and continued walking through the clearing. As soon as we finished here we were going camping. Seth had taken our things to our spot and promised to set the tent up before we got there. "When are the others coming?" I asked.

Rosalie checked her phone. "In an hour," she said. "Peter and Charlotte are going to follow Seth's scent to see how strong your scent is. We are hoping his scent will mask yours but we're not sure if it will work. Peter and Charlotte are the least familiar with your scent so it's the best way to test it."

A few minutes later Rosalie was by my side. She wrapped her arms around me and I leaned against her. "I'll be glad when this is all over," I said.

"Me too," she agreed. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"No I can walk," I said. I'm sure she would have to carry me eventually since I had no idea how far our camping spot was from here.

We walked through the woods and I couldn't help the memories that it brought. The last time I was in the woods Edward had left me. Even though it wasn't the same place it still brought back the painful memories. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I replied. "Just thinking."

"Does this bring back memories?" she asked. I wondered how she knew that.

"Yes," I admitted. "Even after everything that happened thinking about that day still hurts and sometimes… sometimes I fear it will happen again."

Rosalie pulled me into her arms. "I will never leave you Bella," she swore. "No matter what, you are stuck with me."

I smiled against her shoulder. "Can you carry me now?" I questioned. I had walked at least a mile today and my legs were sore and I was getting tired.

Rosalie gently lifted me up for a piggy back ride. I wrapped my arms around her neck and rested my head on her shoulder. I loved running with Rosalie. It was relaxing. I was never afraid of hitting a tree or falling off or dying.

It only took a minute to get to our location. The tent was set up like Seth promised. There was also a small fire going. Rosalie was probably worried about me being cold and asked Seth to do it. Seth was still here, leaning against a tree waiting for us.

"Hey," he greeted pushing away from the tree. "I did everything you asked."

"Thank you Seth," Rosalie said. "I'll make sure it is sent to your house after the battle."

I frowned. "What's going on?" I asked.

Seth looked at Rosalie. She nodded. "Rosalie wanted this all done before you two showed up," he said gesturing to the campsite. "She offered to buy me an Xbox if I helped her out. I would have done it for free but I wanted the Xbox."

They were both staring at me, wondering if I was mad at them. "That was nice of you to pay him for helping," I told Rosalie.

"Did you get the food?" Rosalie asked Seth.

"Yep," Seth said cheerfully. He pointed to a very large ice chest next to the tent. "Emmett gave me his credit card and told me to go crazy. We have a small barbeque to grill some steaks and everything else you could imagine. I also grabbed a smaller ice chest for you. It has some blood in it. I figured you wouldn't be hunting till after the battle."

"Thanks Seth," Rosalie said gratefully. It was nice of him to bring blood for Rose since I knew she wouldn't leave me alone until Victoria was dealt with.

"When are the others showing up?" I asked sitting down on the log Seth had set up in front of the fire. Seth excused himself to go cover our scent.

"Tomorrow," Rosalie said. "Alice said a newborn will catch your scent along with mine, Charlotte and Peter's. They won't know it's you but they will be attracted to the scent of a human. Victoria will chase after the newborn and smell you. That's when she will get the other newborns there and when we show up. Don't worry," she said seeing my face, "Alice has everything figured out."

"Where are they now?" I questioned.

"They are hunting," Rosalie said. "I believe Jacob and Embry are pigging out at some buffet in Houston."

I felt bad for Seth. I'm sure he would love to be there with the guys instead of here with us. He reappeared a few minutes later wearing only shorts. "So should I start barbequing?" Seth asked.

"Sure," I said, knowing Seth was probably hungry and the decision would be mine.

I watched Seth get the barbeque ready. I offered to help but he said no. Once the barbeque was ready he slapped the steaks on the grill. "How do you like your steak?"

"Medium well," I told him. I liked a little pink but if it wasn't cooked enough there was blood and it made me sick.

Seth nodded and let the steaks go for a while. "So we have chips and fruit and cookies," Seth said pulling the items out. "Oh and corn on the cob." He prepared the corn to go on the grill. He waited a few minutes before sticking them on.

Seth looked proud when he handed me a plate of food. "This is great Seth," I said taking a bite of the steak. Seth beamed.

Rosalie's phone buzzed. "Peter and Charlotte finished, your scent is still detectable but it's faint," she said. I could hear the relief in her voice. "The newborns won't bother to get close to Seth's scent." I sighed in relief. Rose and Seth were safe.

"How did you get to be such a good cook?" I asked Seth when it grew quiet.

I offered a bite of steak to Rosalie but she shook her head and rolled her eyes. She was perfectly content with her blood.

"When my dad got sick I learned to cook to help out," Seth said. "He needed to eat healthier and I knew he wouldn't on his own so I did it."

"Harry is sick?" I asked shocked.

"He died a couple weeks after you left," Seth said sadly. "He was having some heart trouble and then Leah and I phased. He had a heart attack and died."

I sat my plate on the log next to me and got up so I could hug him. "I'm sorry," I said. "He was a good man. He was always nice to me despite my involvement with vampires."

Seth squeezed my shoulder and pulled away. "He always thought you would end up with Jacob, even when you were with Edward."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. "Hey Rosalie, can I ask you something?" Seth questioned setting his empty plate aside. He had two large steaks compared to my one medium sized on and still finished before me.

"Okay," Rosalie agreed.

"All I really know about vampires is what the Elders tell us," Seth began. "They made it sound like you're monsters, completely driven by instinct when you feed. How is it you can drink that blood and sit beside Bella without trying to kill her?" This was the same question I had asked.

Rosalie sat down her now empty container. "There's a number of reasons," she said. "One, she is my mate and even when hunting I would know that. I can't hurt her. It's against my nature and the vampire in me won't allow it. Your scent helps mask the smell of human blood so even if Bella wasn't my mate I would be able to resist. Lastly, I'm not hunting which means I'm still in control. I haven't given myself over to my senses."

Seth nodded. "That makes sense," he said. It grew quiet again as Seth munched on cookies. "So Charlie and Tanya," he said.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I was happy Charlie found someone but I didn't want to think about him with Tanya. I wonder if he had the same thoughts about me and Rose. "Jacob was hoping to imprint on Kate," Seth continued.

I stared at Seth. "Really? Why would he want that?"

"She's hot," he said shrugging. "He knew it wouldn't happen though. It's not possible," he saw my look of confusion, "we can only imprint on humans. Vampires are our natural enemy, plus they can't give us offspring. It would be pretty fucked up to imprint on someone that can kill you with one bite."

Once it started to get dark Seth pulled out a couple bags of marshmallows, several bars of chocolate and two boxes of graham crackers. "Do you think any of the newborns will find us here?" I asked worried. I stuck my marshmallow on the skewer Seth handed me and stuck it in the fire.

"It's possible," Rosalie said. "But Seth and I will know if a newborn is close and we can take care of it. A stray newborn is no match for the both of us."

"Where is Seth sleeping?" I asked licking my sticky fingers. Rosalie was watching me, her eyes darkened with lust.

"I wasn't going to sleep," Seth admitted. "I'm supposed to be looking after you."

I was horrified at the thought of Seth staying up all night to watch after me. "You can't do that," I protested. "You need sleep so you will be prepared for tomorrow. I don't want you getting hurt. You can sleep in the tent with me." Rosalie growled and I rolled my eyes. "There's no need to be jealous."

"I can sleep outside," Seth said quickly. "I'll sleep as wolf. It's more comfortable that way and my hearing is better."

It was after midnight by the time I went to bed. Seth put out the fire and went off deeper into the woods to sleep. Rosalie stayed in the tent with me.

"Sleep my Bella," Rosalie muttered.

I closed my eyes, snuggled closer to her and drifted off to sleep.

I was alone in the tent when I woke up. I could smell bacon and my stomach growled. "Morning Bella," Rosalie called from outside.

"Morning," I said. I unzipped the tent and climbed out. "Where's Seth?"

"He's patrolling just in case," Rosalie replied. "He will return in a few minutes."

"All clear," Seth announced a few minutes after Rosalie finished breakfast. Rosalie handed him an overflowing plate of food. "Thanks."

Rosalie checked her phone. "They're heading over now," Rose said.

I gripped my plate so tightly that my knuckles were turning white. "Relax Bella," Rose said wrapping her arms around me. She gently pried the plate from my hands. "Seth, get everything packed up. Leave the fire though, we might need it."

Seth nodded and shoved the rest of his food in his mouth. He chewed quickly and swallowed the mouth full of food. He wiped his hands on his shorts and started taking apart the tent. Once finished the three of us sat together on the log. Occasionally Seth would wince but I didn't ask why. I already knew. The battle had started and he could hear what was going on.

After what seemed like forever Rosalie stiffened beside me. "What's wrong?" I asked.

She covered my mouth with her hand. "Seth, run," Rosalie whispered.

Something was going on. I could tell. But if a newborn got loose why was Rosalie sending Seth away. I thought he was supposed to be here to protect us and stay out of the battle.

He hesitated before taking off into the woods, stripping his clothes as he went. "Rose," I mumbled against her hand.

"Something changed," Rose muttered removing her hand. "She must have caught your scent, or realized I wasn't there." Rosalie crouched down in front of me. "Victoria," she hissed as the red-headed vampire stepped out into the open.


	32. Chapter 32

_This chapter explains why Rosalie sent Seth away, for those who wondered._

Rosalie

"You're not who I expected," Victoria said staring at me. Her eyes flickered to Bella standing behind me. "Edward allows you to protect his mate?"

I growled. "She is not his," I spat.

I could hear Bella's heart beating out of control. Victoria's presence terrified her. I just hope my plan worked. I sent Seth away for two reasons. One, to keep him safe and give him a chance to surprise her. It was our best chance at beating her. Two, with Seth out of the way Alice would be able to get a vision of us. If something was to go wrong she could, and would, send help.

"It doesn't matter," Victoria said dismissively. "She is the reason my James is dead and she will pay."

"I won't let you have her," I snarled at Victoria.

Victoria glanced at Bella standing behind me. "Your coven shares her like a pet. Who would have thought," she said. I growled. She was trying to anger me and make me attack first. "Maybe I underestimated her. Maybe she has a use after all." It worked. Her eyes roamed Bella's body and I crouched down and jumped at her.

She grabbed me mid-jump and threw me into a tree. "Rosalie," Bella screamed.

I jumped off the ground and charged Victoria. She wasn't going to hurt Bella. I wouldn't allow it. Another vampire appeared as I charged Victoria and threw me into another tree. I shot up and ran to put myself between Bella and Victoria. I dodged the other vampire and jumped, landing crouched down in front of my mate.

"Foolish girl," Victoria hissed. "I will get what I came for."

Victoria and the male stalked toward me. I knew their plan, he would distract me and Victoria would go after Bella, I knew that but there was nothing I could do to stop them. The boy headed for me. I took one step forward and Edward went flying through the air collided with the boy.

I mentally thanked him for showing up. My plan must have worked. Alice saw something and Edward heard it and rushed to help. I shifted my attention to Victoria. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of Edward. "Give up Victoria," I spat. "You can't get to her now."

She cocked her head to the side. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," she said.

I smelled the newborn a half a second before he walked out into the open. He smelt Bella and rushed after her. I didn't think. I sailed through the air and collided with his body. While I was distracted with him I smelled Bella's blood. I turned and found Victoria standing beside Bella. Bella's wrist was slit by Victoria's nail and she put her bloody finger in her mouth.

I roared in anger and flung the newborn away. "Go," Edward urged coming out into the open. His black eyes were focused on Bella's blood wrist. He needed to get away. He stared at her wrist for half a second longer before taking off after the newborn.

I stood two feet from Bella and Victoria. "Stay back or I will snap her neck," Victoria warned with her hand on Bella's throat. Her nails were digging into Bella's neck, causing her to bleed more.

"Let go of my mate," I roared.

Victoria laughed and grabbed Bella's hand with her free hand. She gripped it tight enough to snap the bone in half. I could see the bone sticking out of her skin. Bella screamed in pain.

"Rose," she moaned.

Just as I was getting ready to charge Victoria I saw a wolf appear behind her. It was Seth. The wind was blowing his scent back so Victoria couldn't smell him, especially not with Bella bleeding right next to her. I hope he wasn't stupid enough to go after Victoria when she had a hold of Bella. He would get her killed.

"You have remarkable control," Victoria commented. "I wonder how long you will last when I do this." She slit Bella's throat, not too deep but deep enough that the blood was flowing quickly. Bella wasn't going to last long unless I did something.

Victoria then stepped on Bella's foot, shattering the bone. There was blood everywhere from the cuts Victoria was making. I prayed to whatever deity that may be out there that Edward had the sense to run far away from here.

My black eyes locked on Seth's and he nodded. I charged Bella. Victoria didn't react, thinking I was going to kill my mate. It was exactly what she wanted. Victoria never wanted to kill Bella herself she wanted to force me, or Edward at the time, to kill her. It was the best revenge. We would go through eternity hating ourselves for killing our own mate.

I slammed into Bella's weak body. I winced at the crunch I heard. She was losing so much blood if I didn't get her out of here soon she wouldn't survive. Once I had ahold of her Seth leapt at Victoria. Edward walked out in the open again. He wasn't breathing. "Take Bella and go," he instructed gritting his teeth. "We will take care of this."

I pulled Bella into my arms and started running as fast as I could back to our home. Alice must have had a vision because Carlisle and Jasper were waiting at the house. "What happened? Alice just told us to get here as quick as possible," Carlisle said quickly, following me into the house.

I gently laid Bella on the bed before focusing my attention on Jasper. Bella's blood was making him uncomfortable and I wanted to be sure he wouldn't lose control. He moved to the window and opened it. "Victoria got ahold of her when a newborn showed up," I told him quickly. "She cut Bella up, thinking I would kill her." I turned to Carlisle. "Help her."

Carlisle took a step toward Bella and I growled. "Rose," Jasper said. "Carlisle needs to treat her."

I allowed Carlisle to get close enough to assess her. It had been less than a minute since I brought her here and it only took a few seconds for him to assess her. "Rosalie," he said. "She's not going to make it." I snarled. "There is no way to get her to a hospital in time. She's barely breathing right now. I know you can hear that. You need to change her if you want her to live. I can do it if you prefer."

I snarled at Carlisle. There was no way I would allow his venom to flow through my mate. If anyone was going to change her it will be me. "Come Carlisle," Jasper instructed. "She doesn't want you to change her and Rosalie won't allow you to be close during this. We can wait downstairs."

Jasper pulled Carlisle out of the room so I could focus on my mate. It took only milliseconds for me to make my decision. I leaned over and bit her neck pumping as much venom into her body as I could. The taste of her blood did nothing to me. It tasted good but at the same time it didn't.

I moved onto her wrist, avoiding the broken wrist. Next were each of her ankles. Once that was taken care of I ripped her shirt off and bit her above her heart. I pumped more venom there than in her neck because it meant the change would be quicker and would start sooner. I wiped the blood from my mouth and ripped her jeans off so I could bit the inside of her thigh.

I ran from the room and grabbed the empty trashcan. I filled it with soapy water. I also grabbed a washcloth and some towels so I could clean my mate off. I shut the door behind me and focused my attention on Bella. She was unconscious right now but I had about twenty minutes before she started feeling the full effects of my venom.

I cleaned her as quickly and gently as I could. For the first time in my existence I was grateful to Carlisle. It was because of him that I got the medical degree and I learned to treat humans. It wasn't something I ever planned on doing but it helped pass the time. I carefully fixed Bella's wrist to the best of my ability. I used a comb and one of her shirts as a splint to hold the bone in place so the venom would heal it properly. I did the same with her broken foot.

Once she was clean I dressed her in some sweat pants and her Journey T shirt. I wanted her as comfortable as possible for when she woke up. I climbed onto the bed next to her and held her against my cool body. I hoped my scent would keep her calm. There was no guarantee but I was willing to try anything to keep her from suffering as much.

I heard the others come to the house. Charlie and Tanya weren't here. I'm sure someone told them to stay away for now. "How bad is it?" I heard Edward ask.

"Rosalie had to change her," Jasper answered. "There was no way Bella would be able to survive. She was losing too much blood."

"When can we see her?" Esme questioned.

"Not for a while," Jasper said. "Bella's in transition which means Rosalie won't be leaving her side nor will she allow anyone near Bella. The only one that has a chance at getting close to them is Emmett and possibly me."

"I need to take a look at Bella," Carlisle said. I growled. "She was badly injured and-"

To my surprise it was Edward and not Jasper that cut him off. "Rosalie is more than capable of treating her injuries," Edward interrupted. "She did go to medical school Carlisle. Besides Bella is Rosalie's mate and Rosalie takes that very seriously. She would never jeopardize Bella's health."

_Thank you,_ I said mentally.

"Edward," I called softly. "I want to talk to you and Seth."

"Okay," Edward readily agreed. "I will get Seth and bring him here."

"Take her some blood when you go upstairs," Jasper instructed. "She needs it."

Edward left the house and returned a few minutes later with Seth. "Wait," Jasper said. "There are a few things we need to go over before you go upstairs. First, do not try to touch Bella without permission. With Bella changing Rosalie is in protection mode. She won't hesitate to rip you apart if you try anything. Next, if Rosalie starts to get agitated then you put your head down and your hands up as a sign of submission so she won't view you as a threat. Then slowly back out of the room."

I heard the two walk upstairs at pause outside of the door. "Come in," I said.

Edward walked in first. His eyes darted to Bella before focusing on me again. "How is she?" he questioned. He slowly walked forward and handed me the container of blood.

"Calm for now," I said, shifting my position so I could grab the container. I opened it and quickly drained it. "I give it ten minutes before she starts screaming." I wasn't looking forward to that. I knew it was a part of the process but I don't think I could handle hearing my mate scream.

"Your plan worked," Edward said. I looked up. "Sending Seth away triggered a vision for Alice. I saw it and came running."

I nodded. "Victoria?" I questioned.

"Is dead," Seth replied happily. He was staring at Bella. He looked sad. "I caught her by surprise and ripped her apart before she realized what was going on. Edward took care of the other two vampires."

"I had the older one decapitated before the newborn showed up," Edward elaborated. "I just had to go back and burn the bodies."

"How are the others?" I wanted to know. I was certain there were no deaths but that didn't mean no one got hurt.

"No one died," Edward confirmed. "Tanya lost an arm trying to protect Charlie. She is currently healing at Peter and Charlotte's. Jasper and Peter have several bites from trying to protect Alice and Charlotte."

"Overprotective fool," I heard Alice muttered.

"Jacob broke his arm," Edward continued. "A newborn got hold of him but he managed to break free with the exception of his arm. Carlisle got the arm set before Alice sent him here. It's already starting to heal. Peter gave him some whiskey to numb the pain."

That was good. Everyone would be fully healed by the time Bella woke up. "Thank you," I said. "Both of you. If it wasn't for you two Bella would be dead and so would I. So, thanks."

Seth nodded. "I'm glad she will be okay," Seth said.

"Are you guys heading back to Washington soon?" I asked.

Seth shook his head. "Jake still needs a day or two to recover and he wants to see Bella when she wakes up," he said. "I think he wants to see if she's still herself."

Bella started screaming as soon as Seth finished talking. "Shh, Bella love, it's okay," I whispered stroking her hair.

Seth snuck out of the room but Edward remained. "You did what I could never do," he said sadly. I looked up. "You gave her a choice, a future. I… when I saw her with Victoria. I wanted her blood. If the situations were reversed I don't think I could have done what you did."

"If she was your mate I have no doubt that you could have," I said running my hand through her hair. "You saved our lives. I owe you for that… brother."

He smiled and left the room as Jasper slipped in. "Do you want help?" he questioned.

I looked up at my brother. He looked uncomfortable from the pain he was feeling from Bella. "Please," I said.

Jasper slowly walked toward Bella. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She calmed down in a matter of seconds. "If you want I can stay here for a while and keep her pain down," he offered. I nodded. I didn't want my brother to suffer but the thought of Bella suffering hurt even worse.

The next two days were the longest two days of my existence. My own change was nothing compared to watching my mate burn. Jasper eased her pain for twelve hours each of the two days. The other twelve hours involved Bella screaming and begging me to kill her.

Emmett came and sat with me a few times. It helped keep me sane. He assured me it would be over soon and Bella wasn't angry with me for changing her. She was just in pain.

Over the two days she changed I told her the stories she had told me about her parents, about Jacob, about everything I knew from her life. I wanted her to remember everything important to her. Many of us remembered our change but we didn't remember much from our human lives.

Exactly fifty five hours after I bit her I heard her heart beat one last time before it went silent. The change was complete and the house was empty except for Jasper and Emmett, who were in the hallway in case he was needed. "Bella," I whispered trying to get my mate to open her eyes.

She shifted in the bed before opening her eyes. Her blood red eyes locked on mine.


	33. Chapter 33

Bella

This was a pain unlike any I had ever felt. The bite I received from James was nothing compared to this. Every inch of my body was on fire.

I tried not to scream. I tried to save Rosalie from that pain, but I couldn't help it. I wanted it to stop. It helped that Rosalie was right there beside me. She told me when the days passed so I had an idea how much time was left.

The pain slowly started to leave my arms and legs. Unfortunately the pain went straight to my heart. I briefly wondered if this is what having a heart attack felt like. After what seemed like forever the pain was gone and the burning had stopped. I was too afraid to move in case the pain returned.

"Bella," a musical voice whispered.

Bella. That was my name. Now that the change was complete I was a little fuzzy on the details of what happened and where I was.

I shifted away from the person beside me. I felt them climb off the bed and kneel beside me. Something in the back of my mind screamed that she was safe. I slowly opened my eyes. It was amazing what I could see. It was as if I was seeing everything under a microscope. Every dirt particle, grain of wood and thread from the sheets was perfectly clear.

I turned my head and my eyes locked on the most beautiful pair of golden eyes I had ever seen. The eyes were familiar to me. I knew those eyes. I knew that face, but I couldn't place it.

"Bella," the blonde goddess said again. "It's me, Rosalie."

Rosalie. A memory popped into my head. It was the two of us in this bed. I was glad I couldn't blush anymore. My memories of Rosalie flooded back into my mind and I reached out to touch her face. This was Rosalie, my Rosalie. She was soft. It was strange considering her body was always hard.

"Do you remember me?" she questioned. I nodded and she smiled.

"How long do you think Bella will last before jumping Rose?" a male asked. I heard someone else smack the back of his head.

"Emmett," Rosalie hissed in anger as I got off the ground and crouched in front of Rosalie in a matter of seconds.

Emmett, my brother Emmett. There was no threat to Rosalie. It was just Emmett, my favorite brother.

I stood up and turned around. Rosalie looked concerned but not afraid. That was a good sign. I took three slow steps toward her until our bodies were pressed against each other. "Mine," I said speaking for the first time since I woke up.

I grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her toward me so I could kiss her. "Damn, Em come on we need to leave," a voice I recognized as Jasper's said.

"It's just getting good," Emmett protested.

Jasper smacked him again. "Seriously you idiot," he said. "She will kill you."

I ripped Rosalie's clothes off as soon as they were out of the house. "Bella," she groaned as I ran my hands over her chest.

Rosalie grabbed ahold of me and lifted me off the ground before slamming me against the wall. "I love you," I told her as I kissed down her chest.

"I love you too my Bella," she said. She let me go and pulled my shirt off as carefully as she could. Once the shirt was removed and still in one piece she ripped off the rest of my clothes.

I carried her over to the bed and tossed her on it. The bed broke from the force of her body hitting it. "Oops," I said. Rosalie laughed and beckoned me forward with her index finger.

Her naked body was more than enough to entice me. I launched myself at her. "Bella," she moaned as my fingers slipped through her wet folds. Two fingers slipped inside her I ran my tongue over her clit. "Fuck, Bella."

She cried my name as she came all over my fingers. I pulled my fingers out and licked them clean. Rosalie pulled me to her and kissed me. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

I shrugged. I honestly didn't know. Everything was so different yet it was the same. The only thing that mattered was Rosalie. "I feel the same, mostly," I told her.

She nodded. "Mated newborns have an easier time," she said. "They are also a lot hornier." She laughed. "It will fade as you get older. How's the burn? Are you thirsty? I honestly didn't expect you to try and jump me so soon. I figured you would have waited until after your first hunt."

Now that she mentioned it my throat was burning. My thoughts had been consumed by Rosalie so I didn't think of it. "It burns," I admitted.

"Come on," she said grabbing my hand. "I'll take you hunting." She looked down at our naked bodies. "After we get dressed."

She dug through her clothes and sighed. She left the room for half a second and I felt an ache in my heart. "It's okay Bella," she said coming beside me. "I know how you're feeling. All newly mated couples go through it. Do you remember the day I proposed? We were apart all day and it hurt. That's what you are feeling now. It's just magnified."

I nodded in understanding. "You know we will have to talk about everything," Rosalie said softly. I looked up. I didn't remember much about what happened. "After we hunt we can talk."

I nodded and got dressed. "Do you think Jasper will be mad we broke the bed?" I questioned.

Rosalie laughed. "Probably not," she said. "I would be more concerned about that hole in the wall."

She pointed to the spot where she had pushed me against the wall. There was a large hole the size of my back. Rosalie wrapped her arms around my waist. "Come on my love. Let's go hunt."

She led me out of the house and into the woods. "Okay," she said. "Close your eyes and tell me what you hear."

I did as I was told and closed my eyes. I could hear everything. Her breathing, the sound of the tree leaves rustling and the sound of hearts beating. My mouth immediately filled with venom at the sound.

"Good," she said. "Now what do you smell?"

"You," I blurted out. I could smell roses and honeysuckle, the smell of my mate.

She moved closer to me and laughed. "That's not what I meant love," she said stroking my cheek. "Focus on the sound of the heartbeats."

I sniffed the air. The smell wasn't entirely pleasant but not bad either. "Dog?" I questioned.

"Close," Rosalie said. "It's wolf. There's deer though, if you prefer not to eat the wolves."

I took off running in the direction of the heartbeat. I grabbed the wolf before he realized what had happened. I drained him and tossed the empty carcass aside. I was still thirsty. I sank my teeth into the closest deer.

Three deer's later and I was satisfied for the time being. That is, until I caught the scent of something utterly delicious. I moved quickly in the direction of the smell. I came out of the woods into some open area where I saw a jogger.

I rushed forward and grabbed ahold of the man. "Bella, no," Rosalie yelled as I sunk my teeth into his neck.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Rosalie moving closer to me. I growled at her to protect my kill. I wanted the blood. The fact that she was my mate was irrelevant. "Bella, stop," Rosalie instructed coming closer. She came too close and I swung my arm at her and threw her into a tree.

I snapped out of my blood lust after I realized what I had done. "Oh my god," I yelled tossing aside the dead body. "Rosalie."

"I'm okay," Rosalie said brushing off her clothes. She had her hands raised as she moved closer to me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said glancing at the dead body. "I killed him." I wasn't as upset over the thought as I thought I would be. It was in my nature to hunt humans and while I didn't want to kill humans I wouldn't deny it was a part of who I am.

"It's not your fault Bella," she said wrapping her arms around me. "I shouldn't have been so far away from you."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry for attacking you."

"It's fine Bella," Rosalie said. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been. You're a newborn. It happens."

"But I attacked you," I said horrified at the thought. I couldn't believe I did that. At the time I didn't care what I did to protect my kill but now… I could have hurt Rosalie. The thought of hurting her was worse than knowing I murdered someone.

"Bella," Rosalie said grabbing my hands. "It's okay, really. It's not the first time I've been attacked while interrupting a hunt."

I growled. "Who attacked you?" I spat.

"Bella," she said cupping my cheek. "It's okay but we need to take care of the body." I glanced at the body on the ground. I felt bad for what I had done but at the same time I wanted more. "I'll do it Bella. Stay here."

She grabbed ahold of the body and disappeared into the woods. A few minute later she returned. "What did you do?" I asked wearily.

"I ripped up the body and left it in the wood. The animals will take care of it," Rosalie said shrugging. "The others want to see you. Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah," I said nodding. "They are all vampires so it's not like I'll drain anyone."

"Fair enough," Rosalie said leading me to Peter and Charlotte's house at human speed. "How are you doing with everything?"

"Honestly, I'm fine," I told her.

"How much do you remember about what happened with Victoria?" Rosalie questioned.

I frowned as I thought back. It was hard to believe it was only a few days ago. "We were camping with Seth," I said. Rosalie nodded. "Victoria showed up and… you sent Seth away." I couldn't remember anything else. "Why did you send him away?"

"Seth blocks Alice's visions," she said. "I sent him away so Alice could see what was going on, so she could send help. An older vampire showed up. He looked a little over a year, controlled but not overly so. I wasn't thinking and attacked. Edward appeared and took care of him. Then the newborn showed up and I rushed it. I'm sorry," Rosalie sobbed. "I should have focused on you. I should have protected you."

Rosalie dropped to the ground and I went to her side. I sat on the ground beside her and pulled her into my arms. "You were trying to protect me," I said running my hand through her hair. I had never seen Rosalie so upset. She was always the strong one. "I don't remember much but I know you Rose. I know you did everything you could to protect me. I'm not mad at you. I could never be mad at you. Sure, this isn't how I imagined I would be changed but here I am, a vampire."

"You don't hate me?" Rosalie questioned softly. "I… when I changed you I didn't even think about it. Carlisle said you wouldn't survive so I did it. I didn't stop to think—"

I couldn't stand her berating herself so I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. "I love you Rosalie," I told her. "No matter what. I want this. I want you. You are my savior Rose. When Edward left… it was hard. I actually considered ending it because I thought I wasn't worth anything and no one would love me."

Rosalie's eyes darkened at the thought. "Never think that again," she growled cupping my cheek.

"I know," I told her. "It was a moment of weakness. When you came back for me I was never happier to be alive."

"So you're not mad at me for changing you?" Rosalie questioned hopeful.

I shook my head. "No," I said honestly. "I'm happy Rose. This is what I wanted. I promise you that. So please stop feeling guilty."

"Okay," Rosalie said. "I promise I'll try."

I held her hand the rest of the way to Peter and Charlotte's. It was weird now that we were the same temperature. Rosalie held open the door for me when we finally got to the house. "Before you see the others I have to warn you," Rosalie said.

"Warn me about what?" I questioned confused.

"Do you remember Jasper's story?" she asked. I nodded. He was the Major in the Vampire Wars when he was changed. Peter and Charlotte were also involved. "He has scars. They are hard to see as a human but now that you are a vampire they will be noticeable. They will set off your instinct to protect me."

I frowned. "Okay, so be prepared to want to attack them?" I asked.

Rosalie chuckled. "Something like that," she said. "You can come down now."

I heard several sets of footsteps coming downstairs. All the first set of steps came down the stairs and moved toward us I smelt something terrible. "What in God's name is that awful smell?" I questioned.

Rosalie burst into laughter, followed by several other voices that I didn't recognize at the moment. "Pay up," a male voice boomed. It was the same voice that was at the house, Emmett's voice.

I turned to Rosalie. "What's going on?" I questioned. "Are they betting over something?"

Rosalie nodded. "Emmett bet Peter you would comment about Seth and Jacob. That's what you smell by the way," she added.

"Eww," I muttered under my breath. Rosalie laughed and pulled me against her body.

"Hey Bells," Emmett greeted cheerfully. I tensed up at the sight of him and tightened my grip on Rosalie. Emmett and Rosalie had pretended to be married for over eighty years. I didn't want him close to her.

"Emmett back away," another male said. It took me a minute to realize it was Jasper. "She doesn't like you close to Rosalie." Emmett frowned but did what Jasper said.

"There's no need to be jealous love," Rosalie said kissing my cheek.

"I'm not jealous," I mumbled half-heartedly.

Jasper snorted. "Okay, one at a time can go in. Jacob you're first," he said.

"What so you can sacrifice me?" Jacob asked annoyed. "I don't think so man."

"She said you smelled terrible," Peter said. "She's not going to want to eat you."

"That's what she said," Emmett muttered under his breath. Someone smacked him but I couldn't tell who.

Jacob moved into the room. I could hear his heartbeat but the awful wet dog smell made him unappetizing. "You look good Bella," Jacob said eyeing me. "Do you feel like yourself?"

"For the most part," I answered. Rosalie squeezed my hand. "I… Do they know?"

"They do," Alice said slowly walking into the room. "I told them as soon as it happened. I'm sorry there was nothing I could do to stop it."

"It's not your fault Bella," Jasper said walking out into the open. "Mature vampires have a hard time resisting human blood when they hunt. No one expected you to be able to resist and no one thinks less of you because of it." He looked at Jacob and Seth and they nodded.

I could barely hear him speak as I caught sight of all the scars on his body. The sight of his scars kicked my instincts into hyper drive. I crouched down. "Bella stop," Rosalie said. "Remember what I told you about Jasper? He won't hurt you and he won't hurt me."

I pondered her words for a few seconds before standing up and wrapping my arms around my mate. "The rest of you can come out now, one at a time," Jasper said.

One by one the rest of our family walked out into the open. One look at Edward and the memories of the battle flooded through my mind. Edward has saved us both. I walked up to him and hugged him. "Thank you," I said gratefully.

"You're welcome," he said hugging me back. "You look good. How do you feel?"

"Mostly the same," I replied. "But also a little overwhelmed."

Edward nodded. "That's to be expected. After about a year you will feel more like your old self."

"Bella," Charlie called softly.

"Dad," I grinned, walking over to him. I wrapped my arms around him. It was the first time I hugged my dad since before he was changed. It felt good to be around him again.

"You look good Bella," he said. "I'm glad you are okay now."

"Bella, Rosalie," Jasper said after we got comfortable. "I expect you two to repair my house." Emmett and Peter started laughing while Charlie looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "Please don't completely destroy it."

If I were human I would be blushing. As it was I buried my face in Rosalie's hair while she snickered. "We can't make any promises, you know how mated newborns are."

Jasper groaned. "Rosalie," I hissed. She laughed again and wrapped her arm around me.

An hour later Alice started fidgeting. "Okay, Bella is comfortable around us and I don't see her having any newborn fits, can we begin now?" Alice demanded.

During the last hour I had caught up with Charlie, learned what happened during the battle (Seth and Jacob had left to go home), arm wrestled Emmett and Peter (and beat both) and was now playing chess against Edward.

"Begin what?" I asked wearily. I groaned when Edward captured my Queen.

"Wedding plans of course," Alice said excitedly.

I looked to Rosalie for help. "Sorry love," she said. "You did agree to this. I've already given Alice some guidelines so she will behave."

Edward laughed and I had a feeling it wasn't going to be that simple. I sighed. "Fine," I agreed tipping over my king. "Let's get started."


	34. Chapter 34

_The next chapter will be the epilogue in Emmett's POV. Thanks for reading._

Four Months Later

Bella

The last four months were incredibly stressful and difficult for me. Even though I don't physically get tired anymore I felt exhausted every day. For the most part I was relatively calm for a newborn. Until human blood came into the equation. Then I acted like a bloody thirsty beast. The others tried to make me feel better by telling me every newborn went through this but it made me feel worse instead of better.

Most of my time was spent working on my control. Carlisle would place a blood bag in front of me and I had to resist it. That was a lot easier said than done. The first time I had lasted a whole two seconds before ripping the bag apart and draining it. Now I could last a few hours before I got uncomfortable. One of the downsides to my terrible control was the fact that my eyes were still red.

Today was my first trip to the city since my changing. Alice said it would be cloudy so I could take care of some things before the wedding on Saturday. I was forced to wear contacts that were rather irritating but kept my eyes from being bright red.

The wedding. Honestly I was thrilled to be marrying Rosalie but the idea of the wedding was making me nervous. Alice had planned everything with some input from Rosalie, Esme and Charlotte. Luckily I hadn't had to do anything because they never talked about the wedding in front of me and Edward said they were hiding their thoughts.

Since my change Edward and I had built a solid friendship. We spent a lot of time together which didn't bother Rosalie as much as I thought it would. She seemed rather pleased with the idea. I suspected it was more to keep me away from the preparations then anything.

Today Rosalie was off with Tanya, Kate and Irina. All I knew was something to do with the wedding but that was it. Edward and Jasper were taking me out so I could pick out a ring for Rosalie. Later I had to meet Esme and Charlotte so I could try on wedding dresses.

I ignored the ache in my heart as I waited for Edward and Jasper to arrive. I wasn't allowed to leave without them. Jasper was going so he could control my emotions if I started to lose control. Edward was going because I asked him to.

I heard Edward and Jasper approaching the house so I grabbed my purse and headed downstairs. The best part about being a vampire was the speed. I loved being able to move fast without fear of falling down. I pulled open the front door just as they arrived.

"Bella," Edward greeted happily.

"Hey guys," I said hugging both of my brothers.

"Are you ready?" Jasper questioned. I nodded. "You don't have to go you know, if you don't think you can handle it."

"Jasper she will be fine," Edward assured him.

"Okay," Jasper agreed after a second. "Let's go. Edward will be riding with you on your bike and I'll be taking mine. The fresh air will be good for you."

I led Edward to the garage where my bike was. One of the good things about being a bloodthirsty vampire was the fact that I had plenty of time to learn to ride my motorcycle.

We rode to town in silence which suited me just fine. We pulled into the parking lot of a Tiffany's jewelry store. I climbed off the bike and followed my brothers inside the store.

"Try not to breathe too much," Jasper muttered under his breath. "Move your shoulders so it looks like you're breathing."

"And blink," Edward added. "Humans blink a few times a minute."

I nodded and followed them inside. Thankfully, there were only a couple people inside. "Hello," the woman greeted. "What can I help you with?"

Jasper gently touched my arm to let me know he had everything under control. "My sister needs to purchase a wedding ring," he said.

I nodded when she looked at me. "Alright," the woman said. "We have a large selection of wedding bands. What would your fiancé like? The gold bands tend to be popular among men."

My eye's widened. "Actually we need to look at diamond rings," Edward said smoothly.

The woman stared at me for half a second before leading us to the counter. "Take a breath real quick," Jasper muttered.

I did as he said and my mouth instantly filled with venom. Jasper placed his hand on mine and the bloodlust started to fade. It wasn't gone but it was manageable. "Better?" he questioned.

"Yes," I replied.

We walked up to the counter and I did my best not to focus on the burn in my throat as she talked about the different rings. I tuned out the woman and stared at the rings. "That one," I said pointing out one of more simple diamond rings.

It had a rather large diamond in the middle plus two slightly smaller diamonds on either side of it. The price was unbelievable but I knew Rosalie would love it so I didn't question it.

"That ring is over five thousand dollars," the woman said. She obviously didn't believe we could afford it.

"That will be no trouble," Edward said pulling out his black card. The woman stared at the card for a minute before grabbing it. "You still need to pick out a wedding band."

I looked through all the wedding bands until I finally found one I liked. It was narrow band with three diamonds on it. The band by itself cost over a thousand dollars. It made me wonder how middle class humans were able to afford to get married.

Edward paid for the rings and we left the shop. We decided to walk around for a bit so I could get some fresh air.

"You did well," Jasper complimented.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"Well we have time before you need to meet up with Esme and Charlotte," Edward commented. "Is there anything else you want to do while we're out?"

I frowned. I couldn't think of anything else I needed, at least not for the wedding. "Could we stop by the bookstore?" I asked.

I haven't been able to leave the house since I was changed so I had a lot of time on my hands. I ended up reading all the books in the house so I was looking forward to getting more.

"Sure," Jasper agreed.

I followed them to the bookstore. The bookstore was small and cramped. As soon as I walked inside I knew it was a bad idea. There was only one human inside and my vampire mind was thinking of all the ways I could kill him before Jasper and Edward could stop me.

"Come on Bella," Jasper said softly. It was obvious my bloodlust had increased dramatically. He had to use his full strength and gift to drag me away from the human.

"I'm sorry," I said when we were away from the smell.

Edward patted my arm. "Don't be," he said. "We all went through this. You are doing remarkably well. Sometimes it's easy to forget you are still a newborn."

Edward and Jasper led me to the park where the fresh air calmed me down. I could still smell the humans nearby but it wasn't as bad.

"Are there any books in particular that you want?" Jasper questioned.

"I was hoping for more history novels," I told him.

Jasper grinned and nodded. We shared a love of history. "Wait here," he requested. "I'll go pick up a few."

Jasper walked away leaving Edward and me alone. "So, you're getting married Saturday. How do you feel?" Edward asked.

"Honestly, I'm excited," I replied. "I'm not looking forward to the wedding itself but I like the idea of being married to Rosalie."

"Rosalie made sure you will love the wedding," Edward promised. I glanced at him. "She even threatened Alice's shoes if she didn't cooperate." I smiled at the thought of Rosalie burning all of Alice's shoes to make me happy. "Have you thought about what you want to do in the future, once you are more comfortable around people?"

"I'd like to go to college," I confessed. "I know I can't use the degree but… I guess I want the experience."

Edward nodded. "Nothing beats the college experience," he agreed. "Bella," Edward said hesitantly. "If I had asked you to marry me, before I left you, would you have said yes?"

I glanced at him. "I don't know," I said honestly. "I've never liked the idea of marriage but with Rosalie it's different. I really don't know if I loved you enough for that."

"Thank you for being honest," he said smiling slightly.

Jasper showed up ten minutes later with a bag of books. "Thanks," I said taking the bag from him.

It wasn't long before we had to meet up with Esme and Charlotte. We walked to the dress shop where they were waiting. "Bella," Esme exclaimed when she saw me. She pulled me in for a hug. I hugged her back as gently as I could. It had taken some time to learn to control my strength.

"Hello Esme," I greeted. "Hi Char." Charlotte hugged me too and I noticed the contacts she had to wear as well. She looked strange without her red eyes but so did I.

"Weird isn't it?" Charlotte asked referring to her now brown eyes.

"Very," I agreed.

Charlotte turned to the boys. "We can take it from here," Charlotte said. Neither moved. "Shoo," she said with the wave of her hand.

They looked at me. "I'll be fine," I promised. "Char can control one bloodthirsty newborn."

"Call us if you need anything," Jasper told Charlotte.

"Yeah, yeah," Char said rolling her eyes. Apparently Charlotte thought they worried too much.

Jasper took the bag from my hand, promising to books would be waiting at home. He offered to take the ring but I declined. I wanted it kept close.

"Can we see the ring?" Esme asked eagerly.

I pulled the ring box out of my purse and opened it. "Bella, it's beautiful," Charlotte said. "Rosalie is going to love it."

"I hope so," I said slightly unsure now that I had it.

"She will love it," Esme assured me. "Now to try on dresses."

"Alice has picked out some dresses for you to try on," Charlotte added. "You get to pick which one you like the best but she insists you try them all on."

Well that was something. At least I wouldn't be stuck wearing a girly dress.

I followed Esme and Charlotte into the dress shop. "We had them close the shop," Esme said. "Only the manager is here. It should help with the bloodlust."

We walked into a large room where several dresses were hanging up. I stripped off my clothes and Esme helped me with the first dress. The first dress was not my favorite. It was too poofy and girly for my taste. I was thrilled when I got to take it off.

The second dress was much better. It was strapless and hugged my body a little too tightly. I was a little concerned about it being strapless but I sat it aside as a possibility.

I tried on three more dresses before finding the perfect one. The last dress had thin straps. It was cute a little too low but I didn't mind much because I loved the dress. "This one," I told them.

They nodded. "You look beautiful," Esme said. She looked like she would be crying if she could.

I took off the dress and carefully put it back in the bag. Esme took it up front to pay. I didn't argue because I didn't trust myself around a human.

After we finished Charlotte and I stopped to go hunting, for animals, before heading home.

Rosalie

After four months of preparing it was my wedding day and I couldn't be more excited. This was my first real wedding. Sure Emmett and I had been married a few times but we never had a ceremony because we wanted to save that for our mates.

Here I was, more than eighty years after being changed, ready to get married. It was unreal and exciting. "Rosalie," Alice said walking into her and Jasper's bedroom at Peter and Charlotte's house. Alice had decided I would get ready here and Bella would get ready at Jasper's house.

I didn't know anything about Bella's preparations for the wedding, just as she didn't know about mine. The one thing I did know was she was thrilled because Charlie is going to walk her down the aisle. I have Emmett walking me down the aisle as it didn't feel right to have Carlisle do it.

"Yes Alice," I said looking up at my sister.

Alice had done an amazing job with the wedding. It only took a couple threats to get her in line but from what I can tell it is exactly would Bella would love. "We are ready to begin," Alice said. I turned around to face my sister. "You look beautiful," Alice said.

"How is she?" I questioned. A small part of me was worried she would run.

"Jasper says she's excited," Alice told me. "He's trying to get her to calm down a bit before the wedding. He's afraid of projecting in the middle of the ceremony."

I nodded in understand. Jasper had been ordained online and was acting as the priest. Emmett had begged to be the one to perform the ceremony but I refused after Alice told me what she saw if he did. Jasper was the calmest and most capable so Bella and I agreed on him.

"Come on," Alice said. "Emmett's waiting for you outside."

I did one final check in the mirror before following Alice downstairs. Alice pulled the front door open to reveal Emmett looking very handsome in his tux. "Wow Rosie," Emmett said. "You look beautiful."

Emmett led me to where the wedding was taking place. Because Bella still struggled with human blood Alice and I agreed that the large backyard was the best place for the wedding.

The wedding was small, just as Bella wanted. The only one's invited were the Cullens, Denali's, Whitlock's and Jacob Black.

Emmett walked me down the aisle to Jasper's left. Jasper smiled at me before turning his attention back to the aisle. Charlie and Bella had arrived and Bella took my breath away. She looked beautiful in her dress and happier than I had seen her in a while.

After less than a minute Bella was standing right beside me. Charlie kissed her forehead and went to sit down beside Tanya.

"So," Jasper began. "We are gathered her today to bring together two soul mates. I remember when we first came across Bella," Jasper continued. "I couldn't figure out why my sister, and brother, were so obsessed with a human." He paused. "But then I spent time with her and I understood. Bella is the most selfless person I have ever met. I couldn't imagine a better mate for Rosalie. Anyone who has spent time with them knows how great they are together." He paused for a few more seconds. "Rosalie, do you take Bella to be your wife until death do you part?"

"I do," I said squeezing Bella's hand.

"Bella, do you take Rosalie to be your wife until death do you part?" Jasper asked.

"I do," Bella replied promptly.

"Rings," Jasper requested. Edward and Emmett stepped forward with the rings. Bella and I slipped the rings on each other's finger. I stared proudly at my diamond ring.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you married. Rosalie, kiss your bride," Jasper grinned.

I didn't need to be told twice. I grabbed Bella and pulled her against my body. My cold lips pressed firmly against hers. She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me closer. I could hear Emmett and Peter catcalling but I ignored them. I had done it. I had married my mate. There was nothing better than this feeling.

"I love you Mrs. Hale," I said kissing her again.

"I love you too Mrs. Hale," she said pulling me down the aisle.


	35. Epilogue

_This is very short but I wanted some closure._

_The first chapter of my new Rosalie/Bella story has been published. It's called Innocence Lost if you are interested._

_Thanks for reading and reviewing._

Emmett- 10 years later

A lot had changed in the past 10 years. Our relationship with the Cullens was mended but we chose to stay a part of the Whitlock/McCarty Coven. We spent most of our time apart and doing our own thing but we always came together for a month or two a year.

Charlie became a part of the Denali coven but visited Bella as often as he could. Tanya had done a great job filling the role of mother for Bella as she could no longer see Renee.

Kate Denali finally found her mate in a nomad named Garrett. He was a human drinker but changed his diet for Kate, though he did occasionally enjoy a blood bag.

Bella and Rosalie were currently in Hawaii before they started college. It would be Bella's first time in college and she was excited. She did get over her aversion to gifts, fast cars and spending our money. I have no idea why they decided on Hawaii considering the sun, other than the fact they spent the last ten years travelling. They spent most of their time trying to see how many beds they could break anyway. Maybe they were trying to break beds in every state.

Esme had designed a house for the two as a wedding gift. The house is in New Hampshire only a few miles from Dartmouth so they didn't have to spend too much time with humans.

Edward _finally_ found his mate. She turned out to be a girl Tanya and Charlie had rescued and turned. They were married last year and were honeymooning in South America.

Jacob imprinted on a girl that moved to Forks a few years ago. Last I heard they were expecting their first child. Seth imprinted on Angela Webber not long after they returned to La Push. They travelled for a while and were now married with two kids, Harry and Sarah.

Alice and Jasper were in Paris for a fashion show. Then they planned on going back to Texas to stay with Peter and Charlotte for a while.

As for me, I'm currently in Virginia. Alice texted me saying it was time to meet my mate. It had been ten long years of waiting for her while being surrounded by happy couples, but I was patient because I knew it would be worth it.

I was given no further directions then be in this tiny town in Virginia now. I know from watching my siblings that finding our mates in instinctual so I wasn't worried about missing her when I finally found her. I was worried about never finding her in this town.

I wandered through the streets not paying any attention where I was going. Luckily it was cloudy so I had no reason to worry about the sun or hiding. Apparently a sports team had won because I saw a lot of human males in lettermen's jackets. Most of the guys had a girl on their arm as well.

One couple in particular caught my attention. There was something off about them. I had taken a few classes in psychology over my years so I knew enough to know something wasn't right. The male was holding her close and she didn't look comfortable with him.

I glanced at the girl's face, hoping for some clue as to whether or not she was happy. One look at her face and everything had changed. This was the girl I had waited for my entire existence and I could see I bruise at the edge of her collar.

My fist clenched. This… human was abusing my mate. He needed to be punished. He needed to die. My phone vibrated and I was pulled from my murderous thoughts.

_It's not him_, Alice's message said. _Don't kill him._

I sighed. Alice didn't deny someone was hurting her and if it wasn't the boyfriend it had to be someone else close to her. That meant someone in her family. It was most likely her parents. I had to do something. I couldn't allow this to go on.

With some difficulty I managed to walk away from my mate in order to plan. First thing was first, I needed the help of my family. My phone buzzed again.

_We are on our way,_ Alice said. _Peter and Charlotte are playing parents. Still hidden until they show up in two days._

Part one was complete.

I had to stay out of the way until Peter and Charlotte came here and bought a house. Then I can sign up for school and befriend my mate. I will protect her from whoever is harming her. No matter what the cost.


End file.
